From next week motorists travelling over the Brynderwyn Hills in Northland will benefit from significant progress that’s been made to improve safety and resilience on State Highway 1 in the area.
Work is nearly finished on two out of three sections of the Brynderwyn Hills project south of Whangarei and traffic is due to be moved onto the newly built section of the road at the summit on Wednesday. That will be followed by a shift through the middle section in around a month.
The $18m NZ Transport Agency project on the north side of the Brynderwyns is improving safety for road users by widening the current road, removing tight corners and installing a wire rope barrier to separate north and south bound traffic.
“This will reduce the risk of crashes and minimise the impacts of vehicles crossing the centre line as well as building greater resilience on the network by reducing the number of traffic delays which result from crashes, all part of our continued investment in Northland’s highways,” says Brett Gliddon, the NZ Transport Agency’s Northland and Auckland Highway Manager.
Southbound traffic through the summit section will be moved first, followed by northbound traffic. There will be speed restrictions to keep motorists and those working in the area safe.
“We appreciate there will be some disruption for drivers while we carry out this work, but the final result will help make this stretch of the state highway safer and more resilient for all road users,” says Mr Gliddon.
The new road will have a temporary surface and road markings which will be completed once the existing road is lowered to the same level as the new alignment. The new road will then be widened to its final dimensions.
Earthmoving is continuing on the middle section of the hill and weather permitting, this is expected to be completed in December, with the project on target to be finished before Christmas 2016.
