The AA welcomes today’s announcement that work on the final three sections of the Waikato Expressway will begin this year.

Funding has been approved for the Hamilton and Longswamp sections of the Expressway, while a consortium has been appointed to deliver the Huntly section. That means that all seven sections will either be completed, under construction, or will have gone out to the market by the end of 2015.

AA spokesman Barney Irvine said it was great to see the project reach the home straight.

“We’ve already seen the benefits of the work carried out so far,” he said. “Once the whole project is finished, it will be a game-changer for economic growth, safety, and travel times in this part of the country.”

Mr Irvine said the project was the result of strong collaboration between a range of stakeholders in the wider Waikato region.

“Everyone’s on board, because they understand just how important this project is,” he said.

Mr Irvine added that the AA was delighted with the steady progress of the roll-out of the Government’s wider Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme, which includes the Waikato Expressway and six other roading projects.