28 Feb update: The planned closure of SH31 – Kāwhia Road on 5 March has been pushed back to Thursday 7 March with a contingency date of Friday 15 March.
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This updates the traffic bulletin below.
26 February
Works ahead on SH31 Kāwhia Road will require day-time closures – with the first one happening on Tuesday 5 March.
Old seal needs to be dug out on a site west of the Kāwhia lookout on Tuesday. The road will be closed from 8am-5pm but will reopen for an hour at single lane between 12 noon and 1pm.
This job is weather-dependant and the contingency day is 12 March.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi says the road will be open for residents up to the work site but not through.
Access in and out of Kāwhia during the closure will be via SH39 to Ngutunui Rd, Pekanui Road, Okupata Road to Oparau and back on to SH31. This is a collection of local roads with some unsealed stretches and takes about 10 minutes longer than SH31.
The work site can be cleared to allow emergency vehicles through.
Following the dig-out on Tuesday, the resealing works will be completed under stop/go traffic management.
A bigger job is ahead in April which will require about three weeks of day-time closures. This is to fix an underslip which has developed adjoining where work was done last year.
More details including dates for these closures will be provided in the next few weeks.
Later this year, work will also be required to fix an additional underslip nearer Kawhia Harbour Road, which is currently under single lane.
NZTA thanks people for their patience while we undertake these important repairs.
