Source: New Zealand Transport Agency
State Highway 1 traffic in south Waikato can expect delays from Monday 22 January at a busy work site south of Ātiamuri.
Road widening is under way for flexible median barrier installation along a 6.9km section of SH1 – from the Waikato River Bridge south to Thorpe Road.
Work is currently only behind temporary steel barriers and there is a 50km/h speed restriction. However, from Monday to Friday next week, 22–26 January, there will be stop/go operating 6am-6pm at a narrow section where temporary barriers cannot be used. Expect delays of up to 5 minutes.
From 30 January the stop-go will be in place 24/7 until approximately 9 March.
Light vehicles can use Oruanui Road-Forest Road-Tirohanga Road and vice versa as an alternative route to avoid delays on SH1.
Further south some remedial work and pre-seal repairs will resume by the end of this month at the section between Maroa Road and Tram Road where median barriers have been installed.
There will be 24/7 stop/go operation when remedial work resumes, with an expected finished date of mid-February being weather dependent.
These two sites for safety upgrades at Ātiamuri are part of the wider SH1 Piarere to Taupō safely improvements project.
SH1 Piarere to Taupō – safe roads and roadsides
Flexible safety barriers are installed down the middle of a road to prevent head-on collisions, or along the side of the road to help stop run-off-road crashes. These barriers catch vehicles before they hit something harder, like a pole, tree or oncoming car.
