March 30, 2016
Green road plan for Te Urewera
Tuhoe wants to build the greenest road in Aotearoa.
It’s working with local and central government agencies and other iwi on how State Highway 38 from Wairoa to Murupara can be upgraded and maintained.
Chair Tamati Kruger says while it’s easy enough to tarseal the road, it has asked civil engineering firm Opus, to come up with options to bitumen, which is a petrochemical waste product.
"As you drive in the heat of summer it starts to melt. A lot of those toxins and poisons are being released into the air. In winter time there's leaching into the soil. While there have been improvements how can we advertise and promote an area like Te Urewera, nature and then you have an inconsistent valued road going right through the middle of it, he says.
Tamati Kruger says the Tuhoe authority is also working on completing the new Waikaremoana visitors’ centre by Christmas, building a hub complex at Ruatahuna and medical centres at Waimana, Waikaremoana and Ruatahuna.
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