Source: New Zealand Transport Agency
Good progress is being made on a project that will make the Ruby Bay Bypass on State Highway 60 (SH60) a safer road.
Work has been underway since February, to install flexible road safety barriers between the Dominion Road and Harley Road intersections, as well as building a new right turn bay for traffic at the Tasman View Road intersection.
Emma Speight, Director of Regional Relationships, says it is great to have the right-turn bay finished ahead of schedule.
“Thanks to good weather, contractors have finished the right turn bay at the SH60/Tasman View Road intersection earlier than planned, and it reopened on 28 March.”
“Crews have also been completing widening works and installing new side barriers along the different sections of the Bypass. The road widening creates the space needed to put the flexible road safety barriers in place,” Ms Speight says.
Extending the sections of daytime work sites.
Ms Speight says the work has had some challenges.
“While preparing the road for widening, contractors have had to manage and work around underground utilities. It has been a little more difficult than anticipated.”
“To manage this and ensure the project stays on track, contractors will be extending the sections they are working on,” Ms Speight says.
Instead of two one-kilometre sections of contraflow and temporary speed limits, from 10 April, there will be three sections of contraflow.
They will be on SH60 between the Dominion Road and Harley Road intersections. The highway will remain open in both directions. Contraflow occurs when vehicles use lanes normally used by traffic travelling in the opposite direction.
“The other two sites will be shortened, and the third site will be reduced each night and weekend to just a shoulder closure,” Ms Speight says.
She says people should plan for approximately seven-minute delays when travelling through the site.
Nighttime road closures from mid-May
Nighttime road closures will be needed to allow the installation of the barriers in mid-May for three weeks. A detour will be available. Further updates with specific details will be provided before this work begins.
New flexible road safety barrier system
As part of the barrier installation, NZTA/Waka Kotahi is evaluating a new flexible road safety barrier product called ROBOS, which has met the requirements of the latest road safety hardware protocols.
It will be used on about four kilometres of the approximately seven-kilometre project length. This small section is a controlled environment suitable for evaluating and monitoring.
The evaluation will be run over two years and focuses on the following:
- ROBOS’ construction methodology.
- The productivity rate of installing the barrier system.
- The way the barrier is installed to see if it will provide less disruption to people traveling on the road, and if it is a safer installation method.
- Maintenance of the barrier system.
Ms Speight says it’s important to always look at new ways and products that can bring innovation and efficiency.
“We want better health and safety outcomes for the public, fewer travel disruptions on state highways, and improved value for money with our infrastructure investments.”
