Work to rebuild several sections of State Highway 3 between Inglewood and Midhirst gets underway Wednesday 6 October 2021.
Regional Manager Maintenance and Operations for the Central North Island, Jaclyn Hankin, says the works, which will be undertaken from October to early December, will significantly improve the condition of the highway, making the journey safer for everyone.
“This highway is a vital link for the region, and we know that the community and freight industry have raised concerns about the condition of the road.
“We are committed to improving the quality of the highway as quickly as possible so are undertaking a bumper package of works on this stretch this construction season.
“Four areas of the highway will be rebuilt, seven sections will be resealed, and other essential maintenance works will be carried out,” says Ms Hankin.
Light vehicles travelling south will be detoured around the highway during the works period, adding approximately 25 minutes to journeys between Hāwera and Midhirst.
“The detour route will save considerable time when compared to the cumulative delay if we were to use Stop/Go at each of the sites.”
Southbound heavy vehicles will be convoyed through SH3 every two hours to make the local road detour route safer and more efficient for commuters and local residents.
“This is a large amount of work to do on this road and having a detour in place will enable crews to safely work on several sections of the road at once, reducing the overall construction time significantly.
“We understand this detour is inconvenient but after investigating several options for managing traffic during these large-scale works, we’ve concluded the detour has the least impact on all road users and is the safest, most efficient way to complete the work.
“As works are completed along the route, we’ll reinstate access to reduce the impact on local residents.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience and cooperation while we carry out this essential work, ” says Ms Hankin.
The highway will be reopened to two lanes for Labour Weekend and again from Friday 29 October to Sunday 7 November to ensure the successful running of the Taranaki Garden Festival and Taranaki Arts Trail events.
Light southbound traffic will be detoured from the intersection of SH3 and State Highway 3A in Inglewood, re-joining SH3 at Beaconsfield Road in Midhirst via Tarata, Kaimata and Salisbury roads. Salisbury Road between Croydon and Tariki Rd South will be one lane, open to southbound traffic only.
Southbound freight and haulage will use State Highway 3 via convoy from Durham Road every two hours or State Highway 45.
For everyone’s safety, heavy vehicles except those needing to access local roads should not use the detour route.
All northbound traffic will continue to use the State Highway 3 but will be held at Tariki to let trucks through every two hours. Motorists are advised to consult the schedule below to avoid any delay to their journeys north.
Additional safety measures including new line markings, signs and temporary speed limits will be implemented on the local road detour route, which has been assessed by a qualified safety engineer.
All motorists, especially heavy vehicles, travelling between Hawera and New Plymouth are encouraged to consider taking State Highway 45 (Surf Highway).
As is usual practice, crews will need to return to the sites in the next construction season to seal the road once the new pavement has settled. The sealing work will be done under Stop/Go traffic control, with minimal disruption to traffic.
Further information including a map showing local access routes
SH3 Northbound open:
SH3 southbound open for heavy vehicles only
Stop/Go will be from the Durham Road Intersection all the way through to Tariki (Old Mountain Road).
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