Pak’nSave Te Rapa to come with new Foodstuffs funded intersection in Hamilton

Supermarket giant Foodstuffs is footing the bill for a new intersection to go with the future Pak’nSave store in Te Rapa in Hamilton.

Designs for the intersection at Wairere Dr and Karewa Pl were approved by Hamilton City Council’s Infrastructure and Transport Committee at their meeting on Tuesday.

“This decision means our team can continue through to the detailed design and work collaboratively with the council,” a Foodstuffs spokesperson told the Waikato Herald.

“The next step is to keep working through the store design. Building a new store can be a lengthy and challenging process and we’ll be sure to keep the community updated as we progress.”

Foodstuffs was granted resource consent for the new Te Rapa supermarket in 2019. Construction on the intersection is set to begin late this year or early in 2025.

“Since [2019], we’ve been working through the conditions of the consent, including a process for reducing the speed limit on Wairere Drive,” the spokesperson said.

“The councillors requested a macro design for the intersection of Wairere Drive and Karewa Place be presented to the transportation and infrastructure committee for approval when the design was ready.”

The committee approved the design this week.

According to a Hamilton City Council press release, the changes to the intersection were required by the private resource consent and all costs of the project will be met by Foodstuffs.

“The consent process considered the traffic impacts associated with the development on the surrounding road network and led to several transport-related conditions being included,” the press release said.

The intersection improvements will include a left slip lane off Te Rapa Rd into the Pak’n’Save site, a roundabout at the intersection of Eagle Way and Karewa Pl, and signals for the righthand turn into Karewa Pl from Wairere Dr, with raised safety platforms.

In December 2021, the council approved a speed limit reduction on Wairere Drive between Arthur Porter Dr and Pukete Rd to help Foodstuffs meet the consent condition for installing traffic signals at the Wairere Dr/Karewa Pl intersection.

At Tuesday’s meeting, elected members requested that the council’s staff work with Foodstuffs to develop a plan to inform the community about the project and a plan for works to be undertaken with minimal disruption.

Maryana Garcia is a Hamilton-based multimedia reporter covering live news in Waikato. She previously wrote for the Rotorua Daily Post and Bay of Plenty Times.

Stay up to date with the Waikato Herald

Get the latest Waikato headlines straight to your inbox Monday to Saturday. Register for free today – click here and choose Local News.