What do locals think of the Hope Bypass?

Monday, 1 December 2025

Dozens of locals have stopped by NZTA's drop-in sessions to learn more about the billion-dollar Hope Bypass project.

Residents have a range of thoughts about the planned Hope Bypass, but they all agree that it was about time that something was done about Richmond’s traffic.

The NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi has hosted drop-in sessions in the Tasman town so people could discuss the Road of National Significance with agency staff.

Billed to cost up to $1.4 billion, the Hope Bypass will see upgrades on the Richmond Deviation and Queen St intersection, and a new four-lane highway built along the Railway Reserve in a bid to solve Richmond’s congestion.

Local Democracy Reporting visited Friday’s drop-in session to see what locals thought.

Nelsonian Stephanie Rowse stopped by the meeting after “railing against” the bypass.

But she had changed her mind after talking with NZTA staff and was “quite impressed” with the thought that the project had been given.

The Hope Bypass was expected to solve Richmond's congestion troubles.

“I thought that it was a waste of time and money,” she said.

“I am in favour of it now … Something has to be done with that Queen St intersection. You can spend half an hour sometimes trying to get through.”

“[The intersection] is horrendous, and it’s dangerous, and it’s frustrating. This is well overdue,” agreed one Richmond resident.

He’d asked several questions about the layout of the bypass that concerned him.

“The way that they answered them now has given me confidence in what they’re doing… at the end of the day, these guys are the experts.”

But he added that it was “a shame” that the bypass wasn’t actually being extended beyond State Highway 60/the Appleby Highway and past Hope.

Richmond resident Bruce Hedges wanted the bypass project to have a larger scope that included Hope and Whakatū Drive.

Expanding the scope of the project to future-proof the area was a common concern.

“It’s going to be a huge improvement to what is now, no doubt,” said a Stoke resident who agreed it was “just a little bit disappointing” that it wasn’t being extended into Hope.

Richmond resident Bruce Hedges also wanted the Hope extension, as well as turning the full length of State Highway 6/Whakatū Drive into a four-lane road as traffic was often “bumper to bumper”.

“The more they put it off, the worse it’s getting … It’s not good enough.”

NZTA is retaining land in Hope for future development, if needed, and would likely investigate opportunities for Whakatū Drive in the future.

Great Taste Trail manager Belina Crisp said engagement with NZTA about retaining a 'vital' section of the trail along the planned route had been 'good so far'.

The Hope Bypass will travel along Richmond’s Railway Reserve – part of the Great Taste Trail – but NZTA has committed to retaining cycleway routes and connections.

Trail manager Belinda Crisp said the affected section of trail was one of their highest-use areas with 300,000 passes yearly.

“It’s a huge commuting route, but it’s also part of the recreation route, which brings in tourism, so it’s vital.”

Engagement with NZTA had been “good so far”, and the region’s mayors had been strong in their advocacy for the Great Taste Trail, she added.

“But until it actually gets implemented, we can’t guarantee it; it would be a huge loss for the region.”

One Richmond couple who said they used the shared path a lot were glad to see cycling links retained.

“Good to know that the cycle trail is staying… we cycle all around the area.”

Brian Mannington said Richmond traffic could be “terrible” during peak times and acknowledged it would only get worse until the bypass was completed.

“Locals probably would rather see it happen earlier. But the reality nowadays is, these things take time,” he said.

“I don’t know if we can ever fix everything forever, but it’ll certainly help.”

Further community engagement was planned later in 2026 once NZTA had further progressed the detailed design of the highway.

A former roading engineer who lives in the region said the bypass was “way overdue”.

“It should’ve been done long ago,” he said. “Every week, this costs more.”

He wanted NZTA to get on and build the bypass, as its current timeframe – with design and pre-implementation works taking until the end of 2027 and no construction period slated – essentially rendered the project “hypothetical”.

“There’s no guarantee it’ll happen.”

Construction timeframes depend on the Government’s prioritisation of the Roads of National Significance programme.

One Richmond resident understood NZTA’s rationale but remained unconvinced.

“It’s only going to move bottlenecks, as I see it anyway, proof of pudding will be in the eating.”

He thought traffic could be eased by linking Hill Street to Suffolk Road.

Another thought a solution was needed for the “diabolical” Queen St intersection, but had concerns about by potential $1.4 billion bill.

“That’s ridiculous for four kilometres of road, in my opinion.”

The bypass budget includes cost escalation, contingency, and funding risk.

One man said he didn’t have many thoughts about the bypass and had just shown up to see how it would affect his commute.

“You can’t stop progress.”

Richard Osborne, NZTA’s regional manager system design, said the team had appreciated the interest from residents.

“We had a great time meeting and connecting with the local community.”

The agency was beginning to engage with affected property owners, and the community would be updated once detailed design work had progressed, likely later in 2026, he added.

“The public can continue to ask any questions by emailing our project email address and keep up to date on the project by signing up to our project e-newsletter through our website.”

Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.