Construction is ramping up on the Petone to Melling section of the Te Ara Tupua Wellington to Hutt Valley walking and cycling link, with work to install the first of the project’s two underpasses planned during this year’s summer holidays.
While train lines across Wellington are shut down for KiwiRail upgrade and maintenance work, the Petone to Melling project team will be working to remove a section of rail, construct a new underpass, and then restore the line before train services resume.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency Director of Regional Relationships, Emma Speight, says work will resume straight after Christmas.
“Our construction team will be back at the underpass site, near Parliament Street, on Boxing Day. With trains not running, we’ll remove a section of track, then excavate space for the underpass.
“Specially-made pre-cast segments will be lifted into place and joined to form the structure of the underpass. Once that’s complete, the tracks will be reinstated above so that the line can reopen.
“There are only a few opportunities to do work like this on Wellington’s rail lines. Building this underpass while KiwiRail does maintenance and upgrade work on the wider network means we won’t cause any extra pain for train commuters,” Ms Speight says.
There will be some local disruption around the underpass site, with partial road closures and detours in place in the Melling area, but access to homes and businesses will be maintained.
The Transport Agency would like to thank the public for their patience during the work.
From Christmas Day to 5 January, there will be bus replacements in place across the Metlink train network.
For more information, please visit www.metlink.org.nz/service-updates(external link)
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