A stretch of State Highway 51 in Awatoto will be closed at the beginning of next month while crews apply a final seal to the road.
This section of state highway will be closed for 10 nights, from Monday 2 December between 8pm and 5am every day.
The road will be closed between Waitangi Road and Ellison Street. Work is expected to be complete by 5am on Wednesday 11 December. Work will start on the northern end of the road, between Ellison Street and the roundabout before moving further south, between the roundabout and Waitangi Road.
While work is taking place at the northern end, the southern section of that stretch will be open and vice versa.
During the work in the northern section, road users will be detoured onto Te Awa Avenue; when crews are working in the southern section, southbound road users will be detoured right onto Awatoto Road, right onto Meeanee Road and onto State Highway 2 / Hawke’s Bay Expressway. Northbound road users will be detoured onto Waitangi Road then back onto SH51 at the roundabout.
At all other times, during the day, the road will be open with a temporary speed limit in place.
Speeding over a freshly sealed road can damage the new seal, lifting and flicking stones from the road that can, in turn, damage nearby vehicles or your own. To minimise the risk of damage to both vehicles and the new seal, it is crucial that road users adhere to all temporary speed restrictions in place.
The new roundabout at Awatoto Road and safety improvement project was completed earlier this year. At that time, crews made a commitment to return to the state highway later this year to apply a second and final coat of seal and asphalt.
Revisiting a site to apply a final coat of seal is normal practice for all new roads.
The second seal will further boost the resilience of the new road, the safety and ultimately the efficiency of travel.
Please allow extra time for the detour and plan accordingly. NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi would like to thank road users for their patience during the closure.
