New road linking SH3 in Glenview and Peacocke bridge almost ready to open

Sunday, 19 July 2026

Whatukooruru Drive will link Ōhaupō Rd (SH3) and a roundabout on Peacockes Rd. Pictured is construction in April.

Southwest Hamilton is about to get a better link to the new Peacocke bridge.

And running underneath Whatukooruru Drive are essential services for future homes in the growing area, Hamilton City Council says.

The new road runs from Ōhaupō Rd (SH3) through to a Peacockes Rd roundabout, and will open “in the next few weeks”.

Since Te Ara Pekapeka Bridge opened in September 2024, many locals have been getting to it from the back of Bader, following Peacockes Rd past the water treatment plant and Glenview Club.

The opening of Whatukooruru Drive will provide a more direct link to State Highway 3, and also help ready the area for future growth.

Whatukooruru Drive looking west toward the Ohaupo Road/State Highway 3 roundabout.

This map of Peacocke infrastructure shows the two stages of Whatukooruru Drive (11 and 13) which are about to open.

That’s because the 720-hectare semi-rural Peacocke is earmarked to become a new suburb in what’s been called Hamilton City Council’s largest ever infrastructure project.

Most work on Whatukooruru Drive is already finished, Hamilton City Council general manager of infrastructure and assets Kevin Strongman said.

The final piece, stage three, is 700m long, includes a bridge and cost about $33m.

Construction started in August 2024 and then mayor Paula Southgate said it was about getting “infrastructure in the right place at the right time” so the city could have “the new homes and communities we desperately need”.

Running under the road are essential services to ‘enable new homes and suburbs in Peacocke’, the council says.

Work on the final section recently earned contractor Schick two gongs at the Waikato Civil Contractors New Zealand Hynds Construction Awards.

Construction is now all but complete, Strongman said. There’s minor work being done on the footpath, and the council is getting “the final building consent sign-offs necessary to open the bridge structure to public use”.

Stage three and stage two of the road will open at the same time, Strongman said, and there will be an off-road cycle path along the full length.

Whatukooruru Drive looking east. It features three bridges over the Mangakootukutuku Stream gullies and associated tributaries.

“Under the road, essential pipes for water and wastewater and cables for electricity and internet services will enable new homes and suburbs in Peacocke.”

This new roading connection is part of a bigger project to get the area ready for growth.

“The total project cost, for all stages, including the already-open Ohaupo Road roundabout, Whatukooruru Drive and upgrading part of Peacockes Road is expected to be $144.4 million,” Strongman said. “This includes developer funded works, intersections and three-waters infrastructure necessary to support adjacent development.”

The name Whatukooruru was identified through iwi-council partnership, and comes from the name of a significant pā site in the area.