Slow down and be safe on the highways this summer

Motorists are being urged to allow extra time for their journeys this summer and to take care on Canterbury roads with a number of maintenance and safety projects underway throughout the region.

The NZ Transport Agency’s Journey Manager Lee Wright says summer is the best time to repair road surfaces and carry out important safety and road improvement works.

“Unfortunately, this work always coincides with the busy holiday and summer period when there is more traffic on our highways.”

Ms Wright acknowledges that road works can be dusty, noisy and generally annoying for drivers, but the work does ensure there are better and safer roads for everyone to travel on.

“Summer is the best time to reseal our roads as warmer temperatures and dry air helps new seal to stick to the road surface.

“Cold ground conditions, wet weather and moisture mean we cannot carry out this maintenance work during the winter months.”

She says it is critical that motorists slow down and observe the speed restrictions through work sites. “Speeding through the sites can be dangerous for road workers and other motorists, as well as causing damage to the works that have already been completed.”

Ms Wright says it is planned that there will be no work on the highways from 19 December to 5 January. “This will help reduce delays. However, there will be speed restrictions in place, even when the site is unoccupied, and we ask everyone observes these restrictions which are there to protect the works which are in the process of being completed.”

Motorists need to be mindful of the following works which may result in some delays to their journeys this summer:

North Canterbury

State Highway 7

• Work has begun on road repairs and resealing 600 metres of the highway at Summerdale, between Boundary Stream and Cow Creek, and 600 metres just north of the Boyle River Bridge.
• A few hundred metres west of Hanmer Junction, a kilometre of the highway will be repaired and resealed from the end of January.

State Highway 1

• North of the Amberley township, work will begin mid-February on repairing and resealing 300 metres of the highway.
• Almost a kilometre of the highway at Kanuka corner, north of Kaikoura, will be repaired and resealed early next year.

Canterbury

State Highway 73

• The repairs and resurfacing of 300 metres of highway on Porter’s Pass will begin in February and take about a week to complete.
• Work will begin after Christmas on repairs and resealing at Joins Cutting, near Porter’s Pass. This work includes the installation of a new guardrail.
• Earthworks are underway just to the west of Arthur’s Pass Village to repair and reseal about 600 metres of the highway. Pavement works will begin in January and motorists can expect delays of up to 20 minutes during the four-week work programme.

Mid Canterbury

State Highway 1

• Work will begin later in January on two sites south of the Rakaia township repairing and resurfacing 2.5kms of the highway. This work is expected to take about 10 weeks to complete.

On the network there will be other isolated road surface repairs carried out during the Summer season.

For the latest information on what is happening on the state highways: phone 0800 4 HIGHWAYS or visit the website: www.highwayinfo.govt.nz(external link)

For more information please contact:

Jan McCarthy
Media Manager - Christchurch

T: 03 964 2885
M: 021 427 442
E: jan.mccarthy@nzta.govt.nz