Mobil Karāpiro closes to pave way for expressway construction

Tuesday, 31 March 2026

Marcel and Marion Beetz are part of the family behind Mobil Karāpiro.

After 40 years serving motorists, family-owned Mobil Karāpiro service station has closed to make way for the Cambridge-Piarere Expressway.

The station’s last day was on Tuesday. When the Waikato Times visited around noon, 91 octane fuel and diesel had sold out and the site was being fenced off.

The closure did not come as a surprise to Mobil Karāpiro owners Marcel and Marion Beetz, who said it was eight years in the making.

Construction on the 16km, four-lane Cambridge-Piarere Expressway - identified by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) as a road of national significance - is expected to begin between late 2026 and early 2027.

While the closure is bittersweet for Marion and Marcel Beetz, they say it will help improve safety in the area.

Although they had fought to keep the petrol station open, Marion said there was “no other option really”.

They had intended to rebuild the shop - even gaining the necessary consents - but had not been able to while they waited to see whether the road would go ahead.

Though the closure was bittersweet, both Marcel and Marion agreed the expressway was necessary and wanted NZTA to “just get on with it”.

“Over the years, Hamilton Expressway, Cambridge Expressway, they've been a benefit to us so it's quite hard for us to say don't build an expressway,” Marcel said.

Marion added it would improve safety, as they regularly witnessed crashes on the intersection at the corner of SH1 and Karāpiro Road.

“Tourists don't get this corner, they don't realise how dangerous it really is.”

“Two days ago there was an accident and the day before another accident and mainly [caused by] people just not taking notice, not looking,” she said.

Diesel had ran out by midday on Tuesday, the Mobil’s last day.

Their focus was now on getting the site ready for NZTA to take over.

“Today we brought our (pump) price down a bit just to get that fuel out of the tank,” Marcel said.

Before the station had sold out, fuel-finding app Gaspy reported Mobil Karāpiro as having the cheapest 91 octane petrol in the area at $3.29/L.

They acknowledged it was “probably not too bad” a time to close as fuel prices soared, with Marion saying they were seeing fewer cars on the road.

Once the station was closed to the public, the family would take out remaining stock as well as the fuel pumps, Marion said.

Three generations of their family had worked at the Mobil after Marcel’s grandparents had bought the site 50 years ago, with Marcel joking that petrol ran in their veins.

Many of the shelves inside the service station were empty as the Beetz family prepared to close their doors for the last time.

Marion said her grandchildren loved coming and helping out around the store.

Many of their regulars, some known to the family since childhood, were “shocked” to finally see the petrol station closing down.

“They know the roading is happening sometime but not realising that we’re closing soon,” said Marion.

Marcel added that for some families, stopping for fuel at Mobil Karāpiro was “ingrained” on their way to the beach or on a road trip.

When asked about their future plans, they said they were uncertain but would be taking a “small holiday”.

“We might do something else at some point along here if there's the opportunity, but it depends on the road and depends what they're [NZTA] doing,” Marcel said.