Waka Kotahi's as confident as it can be that a new bridge to join up a badly damaged Corormandel state highway will be finished by March next year, even though it hasn't signed a construction contract yet.
State Highway 25a, which is the main route to the Coromandel, was wiped out in severe weather earlier this year leaving a massive gaping canyon in its place.
The roading agency has chosen a preferred group of cotractors to build a bridge and reconnect the road, but it hasn't sealed an official deal.
Meanwhile prep work at the site is already under way, with a bold commitment to reopen 25a in nine months, instead of the 14 months a project like this would normally take.
Waka Kotahi's Jo Wilton is quietly confident it can be done.
