International recognition at Sustainability Delivery Awards

The Mt Messenger Bypass project has won Transportation Project of the Year at the Environment Analyst Sustainability Delivery Summit in Boston, USA.

WSP in New Zealand , alongside Tonkin + Taylor , and as part of the Mt Messenger Alliance which includes Ngāti Tama as mana whenua, are working together to deliver Te Ara o Te Ata, the Mt Messenger Bypass Project in the Taranaki region. The scope includes a newly aligned 6km section of highway, two bridges and a 235m tunnel along State Highway 3. ?

The Environment Analyst Sustainability Delivery Awards recognise ESG innovation, achievement and leadership, and celebrate those organisations who have made significant advances in progressing towards a sustainable transformation and achieving climate and net zero goals.

WSP kaimahi were also finalists in the Creating Resilient & Sustainable Communities category for their work in supporting NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Waka Kotahi to move beyond consultation and engagement to full participation of Ngāti Tama in the Mt Messenger Alliance. Ngāti Tama was closely involved at all levels of the project, including governance and holding a seat on the Project Alliance Board.

The initiative has created employment opportunities for Ngāti Tama and for other locals, particularly in pest management, seed collection, plant propagation, restoration planting, construction and cultural monitoring. A business collaboration between three local iwi called Te Tāmoremorenui, which includes Ngāti Tama, can bid for contracts as part of the project’s social procurement objectives.

Te Ara o Te Ata is the first time a major road project has committed to perpetual pest management and ecological improvements as part of its ecological offset and compensation package (usual practice is for such measures to cease after 2-3 years). The project is a beacon of progress for biodiversity restoration, environmental justice built on partnership with iwi, and sharing of indigenous knowledge and practice.

In a first in New Zealand, this transport project offers a dual legacy:

• A safer, more modern and more reliable road infrastructure linking the community with the rest of the North Island
• A community with greater capacity to exercise its role as kaitiaki (guardian) of the local environment. ?

WSP's commitment to sustainability on the project was demonstrated through our inputs into what has been a rigorous route-selection process and holistic enduring biodiversity offset package. Twenty-four possible routes were considered and Ngāti Tama iwi walked each one alongside the design team.

The selected route balanced minimal ecological impact with iwi cultural values, local economy benefits, cost-effectiveness and road safety for users. The design's shorter length and reduced grades (from a maximum of 12% to 7%) across the route will reduce vehicle emissions, and the reduction in herbivorous animal pests improves carbon sequestration rates by up to 78,000 tonnes CO2/year.?

Socially and economically, the project is set to transform the region's dynamics. Improved road safety and resilience, core aspects of the project's design, are expected to enhance journey time reliability, altering living and mobility patterns. This improvement can reduce travel times by 50% for heavy vehicles (from 12 minutes to 6 minutes).

Frances White (Ngāti Tama), the current Chair of Te Ara o Te Ata says: “The calibre of the WSP and Tonkin + Taylor technical staff we have worked with has helped a huge amount with building our trust and confidence.”

Te Ara o Te Ata board member Conrad O’Carroll (Ngāti Tama) says: “The Mt Messenger Project has become not a road project, but an ecological protection project with a road project connected to it.”

WSP Major Project Director Eliza Sutton says the international recognition for these projects is a fantastic endorsement of the team’s expertise.