The Cambridge section of the Waikato Expressway is open. Rachel Thomas time-trials the new section.

It's scenic, it's sleek, and it's shorter, but not by much.

Three minutes is the length of time we shaved off a trip through Cambridge using the $250 million shortcut.

The stretch of the Waikato Expressway opened to traffic on Wednesday and shows off 16km of uninterrupted Waikato countryside between Tamahere and just south of Cambridge.

NZ TRANSPORT AGENCY An aerial photo of the Karapiro Gully Viaduct on the Cambridge section of the Waikato Expressway.

During peak traffic times, the savings would vary, of course - but the average day trip is likely to follow a similar pattern to the one this reporter and photographer experienced about 11am on a Thursday.

It took 7 minutes and 22 seconds to travel east on the new stretch of road. The return trip on the old route through Cambridge took 10 minutes, 19 seconds.

Just as we started to enjoy the panoramic country views on the new road, stone chips fractured the serenity - tiny missiles coming our way from trucks up ahead.

This loose metal will probably become less of an issue as traffic settles the road surface, and it was only obvious at the entrance to the expressway.

The old route to Hamilton, past the hanging baskets of Cambridge, was noticeably quieter, although the slow-moving roundabout by KFC stalled us. A pedestrian crossing along Hamilton Rd and the sweeping Victoria St intersection are the other major hurdles.

Anyone who's travelled for hours from Napier or Gisborne would probably welcome any time saving. Bypassing the town of champions will also thwart the tempting gauntlet of fast food outlets along Queen St.

The expressway will satisfy an appetite for scenery, though, thanks to a trip over Karapiro Gully and a clear view of the Kaimai Ranges when heading east.

Cambridge Avantidrome and St Peter's School are not on the new route - a deliberate move by the New Zealand Transport Agency to put a lid on serious crashes along the old stretch of State Highway 1.

Five people have died in the last five years on the road the expressway replaces, and the intersection which peels off to the school and velodrome is a notorious black spot.

The new road with its cruisy straight stretches is considered so safe that it's a candidate for a 110kmh speed limit - but we'll have to wait until the end of 2016 to hear whether the speed hike gets a seal of approval from road safety partners.

The project is one of seven sections of the $2.1 billion Waikato Expressway.

The Cambridge stretch is the third part to be completed, with the missing pieces expected to fall into place by 2020.

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