Source: New Zealand Transport Agency
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) apologises for significant delays experienced on State Highway 30A (SH30A) in Rotorua on Monday 17 November.
Traffic was heavily congested due to a combination of high traffic volumes and traffic management requirements for a road rebuild.
“We have now made the decision to postpone the SH30A work until 2026,” says Sandra King, NZTA System Manager Bay of Plenty.
“While the full closure meant this work would be completed much faster (within 15 days – day and night works), we need time to reconsider our construction and traffic management approach.
“This, along with the wet long-range weather forecast for the remainder of November, means there isn’t enough time to complete the work ahead the Christmas shutdown period.
“Once a confirmed start date is available, NZTA will share details with the Rotorua community,” says Ms King.
SH30A is a complex urban site where the pavement has been patched for many years. It requires a full asphalt rebuild.
“A full road closure was originally chosen as the quickest and safest way to complete this rebuilding work, given the large volumes of machinery and equipment required.”
Following Monday’s disruption, all work was stopped before the afternoon peak, and as at 6am on Tuesday morning, all four lanes of SH30A were open under traffic management.
Crews will return to site tomorrow night, Thursday 20 November, between 8pm and 5am (with Sunday night as a backup) to restore the road surface to its original level. This work will have minimal impact on traffic.
“This repair work remains a priority for next year to ensure we don’t have pavement failures next winter. In the meantime we are looking at how we can do the work differently to allow traffic to keep moving through the site while the work is completed, rather than a full closure.
“Using a different construction methodology will mean the overall timeframe will take longer but will minimise overall delays to people’s daily travel,” says Ms King.
NZTA thanks motorists in advance for their patience ahead of these nightworks.
