Tenders out for Cambridge-Piarere section of Waikato Expressway

Monday, 6 July 2026

The Cambridge to Piarere expressway extension will be done in two parts, and tenders for the first are open, NZTA says.

Contractors who want to build the first part of the Cambridge-Piarere expressway extension can now put in their pitches.

NZ Transport Agency is inviting tenders from shortlisted contractors until December, a statement released on Monday said.

The project will be done in two parts and these tenders are just for the first section - an upgrade of the existing SH1 to just south of the Karāpiro Interchange.

Funding of $1.773 billion for the long-awaited extension of the Waikato Expressway was confirmed in Budget 2026. NZTA had been granted consent in September 2025.

Locals had been pushing for it for years, and the AA Research Foundation published data showing death and serious injury crashes were increasing on that stretch - the opposite trend to areas which got highway upgrades.

The project is now classed as a Road of National Significance.

The proposed Cambridge to Piarere Waikato Expressway extension, previously supplied by NZTA.

NZTA says it will make travel safer and more reliable on a key transport corridor, and strengthen connections between Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty.

The focus now is getting the right contractor in place to deliver the first part of the project, NZTA’s Adrian Jones said.

“The tender process will run through to December 2026, when we expect to award the contract,” said Jones, the regional manager of infrastructure delivery for Waikato and Bay of Plenty.

The project will be built in two sections. The first will upgrade the existing SH1 from the Cambridge Southern Interchange to just south of the Karāpiro Interchange. Construction of this section is expected to start in early 2027.

Stage two involves building a new section of expressway through farmland, connecting with the SH1/SH29 roundabout at Piarere.

Procurement for this section is expected to get underway in the coming weeks, with a contract expected to be awarded in early to mid-2027.

“With consents granted, early works underway and procurement progressing, we’re continuing to make good progress and move the project further toward construction,” Jones said.

Overall the project involves a four-lane, 16-kilometre section of expressway, NZTA says.

While $1.773b of the project is covered by Budget 2026, the rest of the funding will come from the National Land Transport Fund.