Latest / The SME Stream / Karla Lee: Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce CEO on the Hawke's Bay Expressway being upgraded

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Karla Lee: Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce CEO on the Hawke's Bay Expressway being upgraded · The SME Stream

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: First of the seventeen major roading projects is underway. Roads
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: of National Significance, or RONS as they were calling them
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: yesterday in the postcab press conference. RONS the Hawks Bay
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Expressways the first cab off the rank, with work being
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: brought forward at least twelve months, twenty nine thousand vehicles
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: a day. It's going to go from two to four lanes.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: The Hawksbay Chamber of Commerce CEO Calor leeds with us
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Carla morning.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Mike. How are you very well?
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Indeed? I love a road. Do you love a road?
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: I do love a road.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: I've driven. There's one north of Auckland. Have you driven
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: the north of Auckland to Poohoy the new road there?
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: The Road of National Significance? Or no?
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: I haven't.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: No, it's life changing, believing it is. It's literally you're
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: on that road and you're thinking, God, I wish we'd
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: done this twenty years ago. My life is so much
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: easier because of it. That's what you're in for in
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: the Hawks Bay.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Oh, I can't wait.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: It's exciting. What's the vibe in the area.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Oh, we are all very excited about this road going
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: and this has been a really long time coming. And
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: it has been hard going through that expressway. I personally
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: drive it every single day, so it's going to make
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: a massive difference to many many people in the region.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: For people who have not been on it. When they
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: call it an expressway, is it express is it a
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: good road as it stands? Or passed? Its use by?
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: No pass its use by? It is not an expressway
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: at all. That word should not be used for that road.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: It is quite the opposite, especially at peak times, and
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: it's been like that for a long time, but considerably
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: worse than cyclone Gabriel.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: I was going to say, so unique set of circumstances
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: in your particular part of the world. Is the Gabriel
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: experience reminded you of the value of good efficient roading.
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, we were reminded that we aren't as resilient as
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: we should be, and we need to improve that so
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: that we're never in that position ever.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: Again, what sort of use is the road getting for
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: people who have not used it? Is this will improve
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: mainly for trucks and transport that sort of thing, or
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: is it a commuter bit of roadway as well?
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: It's both. It actually spans across many things, so a
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: lot of tracks come through there to go to our port,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: which is incredibly important for our freight. But our commuters
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: that go between Nature and Hastings every single day is.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: Huge, fantastic. What's the vibe in the bay, given I've.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: Got you, Oh, the vibe in the bay. We are
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: really looking forward to summer. Good. So it's here. It's
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: not pretending to be here. Obviously. We come from a
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: primary industry region that we are growing our crops is
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: incredibly important. So the summer is coming out and things
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: are looking really good for Hawks Bay and this news
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: is exactly what we need going into summer.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Very good to hear, kind of go well with a
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: Karla Lee, who is the Hawk's Bay Chamber of Commerce
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: CEO