Work will start before Christmas on a controversial new stretch of motorway north of Auckland.
Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
The New Zealand Transport Agency has awarded a contract to Northern Express Group to finance, build, manage and maintain the Pūhoi to Warkworth road.
The estimated cost of the 18.5km-long motorway segment is $709 million.
Transport Minister Simon Bridges said it would increase economic growth in Northland and provide a more reliable link between the region and the upper North Island.
He said the new motorway was also critical to Auckland's success, because Warkworth was a key growth area for the city.
The Green Party said National was spending nearly a billion dollars to solve the problem of long-weekend holiday traffic north of Auckland, and the road would not even solve that.