Source: New Zealand Transport Agency
Nearly 4,000 cones and road signs have been removed from State Highway 3 between Inglewood and Midhirst, with work to rebuild several sections of the road now complete.
The detour will be removed and State Highway 3 reinstated to two lanes by early Saturday morning.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency thanks road users for their patience and understanding while the major works were carried out.
Regional Manager Maintenance and Operations Jaclyn Hankin says the project was initially scheduled to take about 12 weeks but the majority of the work was completed in an eight-week construction period, largely due to the detour being in place.
“We acknowledge the substantial detour added time to many people’s journeys. This is a vital highway link for the region with more than 11,000 vehicles per day, and we were committed to improving the quality of the highway as quickly as possible.”
The works have been completed quickly despite wet weather and reopening the road to two lanes for Labour Weekend and again from Friday 29 October to Sunday 7 November to ensure the successful running of the Taranaki Garden Festival and Taranaki Arts Trail events.
“Having a detour for one lane of traffic instead of a Stop/Go approach reduced the volume of vehicles travelling through the site, enabling the shorter construction period, while also being safer for both road users and our road workers,” says Ms Hankin.
The works saw areas of the highway rebuilt, seven sections resealed – including four intersections, and other essential maintenance works, such as replacing road markers, cleaning signs, clearing drains, and replacing some bridge joints, also carried out.
Overall, work on this stretch of highway involved:
- More than 60 pieces of machinery
- 15,000 tonnes of aggregate (sand, gravel, crushed stone) – enough to fill four Olympic swimming pools
- 850 tonnes of cement
- Nearly 4,000 road cones and signs
- More than 8,000 working hours
While the bulk of the work has been done, crews still need to complete the finishing touches at the Norfolk Road intersection. This was unable to be completed due to recent wet weather.
Motorists are urged to stick to the temporary speed limits that will remain in place on the highway until the new seal has set. This is crucial to ensure the longevity of the seal.
Ms Hankin says it is likely a similar detour approach will be used for roadworks across the region in future, with a detour for northbound traffic under consideration for road renewal work on SH3 south of Eltham scheduled for early next year.
Above: Major road works on SH3 between Inglewood and Midhirst have been completed and the detour will be removed by early Saturday morning.
