Putting together the 196-kilometer whale trail is no easy task

The team behind it 200km bike trail from Picton to Kaikoura Calls on the council to continue to push forward with work to speed up construction.

Meanwhile, the Whale Trail team is keen that once completed, the event will become the country’s 24th major Ngā Haerenga ride.

But the trail is less than halfway through construction and project leader Nigel Muir says it’s time to stop.

Moore told the city council’s assets and services committee this month that three construction crews were working on the project and that they were aiming to “rapidly accelerate progress” over the coming year.

The project has a budget of $28 million, and about $9 million has been spent so far.

“That’s just the cost of building the trail, and we think it’s going to take another $4 million to build the soft surfaces around the trail.

“We will spend about $15 million this year. We are well on our way with the project and we have a firm foothold in the right-hand passing lane of the freeway.”

Muir said different sections of the road had been delineated following consent.

“As much as we would like to complete this project in a neat, linear fashion, you can’t do that,” he told the committee.

“Once you get the easement, access or resource consent, we send a team out to build. That’s what we’re doing.

“I think if we didn’t do that, our program would be in a lot of trouble.”

The “shovel-ready” project received $18 million in funding from the government’s regional economic development organization, Kānoa (RDU).

Mr Muir said some major river crossings would soon require resource consent or had already been approved, including the Waimā/Ure River Clip Bridge, Kēkerengū Bridge and Lake Elterwater Overpass.

“It sounds simple when said so quickly, but believe me, we had countless discussions with our iwi partners, Heritage New Zealand, the landowners, the Department of Conservation and its ecology team, and the geotechnical consultants to get resource consent.

“But we plan to have these bridges completed by the end of this financial year, so it’s very exciting.

“There are 38 of these projects along this road, and I think eight of them are large civil engineering projects.”

Muir said they hoped to have the route certified as the Ngā Haerenga Great Cycle Route once it was completed.

Moore said there are 23 Great Rides nationwide, and data shows that these programs have a total of 2.1 million users. This number is growing by 10% each year.

Meanwhile, the line from Tua Marina, north of Blenheim, to Seddon, south of Blenheim, was completed.

But Muir later asked the council for help in putting up signs on blind spots and dust in those areas.

“We have a lot of problems to deal with, and there’s no point wasting more money on fixing problems we can already fix.”

This is consistent with many other ways Muir has suggested to councils they can help.

These included “political influence” and reminding central government that they were responsible for the Picton Elevation section of the project, helping them tell stories along the trail, native plants, maintenance and communication.

He floated the idea of ​​a small working group of staff and councillors set up by the council to meet once a month.

Some native plants have already been planted, but Muir said they have an “ambition” to get more than 100,000 plants into the ground.

“Planting more native plants will enhance the user experience.”

Moore said in consultation with iwi partners, part of the track from Clarence Station would be extended inland near Kaikoura to a height of 600 metres above sea level.

Marlborough Mayor Nadine Taylor told Muir the regional transport committee – whose membership includes senior members of the New Zealand Transport Agency’s Waka Kotahi – was aware of the situation at the Picton Heights site.

“We can certainly make sure that this issue is raised through that forum when the minister visits,” Taylor said.

She said the council will do what it can to help within the existing budget, such as addressing the dust problem at Redwood Pass.

“You’re right, it might take more coordination.”

LDR is a local news organisation jointly funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.