New section of SH3 at Waitara to have final seal applied

A stretch of State Highway 3 at Waitara in Taranaki will be closed for a few nights next month as the road gets its final seal applied.

The work, on SH3 between Nelson Street and Bayly Street, will take place between 8 December and 12 December.

Crews will be working between 8pm and 6am Sunday to Thursday.

During the work, the road will either be completely closed to traffic or down to one lane.

• Sunday 8 December and Monday 9 December: The southbound lane of SH3 between Princess Street and Nelson Street will be closed from 8pm, reopening at 6am each morning. The northbound lane will remain open during this time with a temporary speed limit of 30km/h in place.
• Tuesday 10 December: Both the southbound and northbound lanes of SH3 between Princess Street and Nelson Street will be closed to all traffic from 8pm til 6am the following morning.

A detour through Waitara will be in place during these closures. The detour will add up to 5 minutes to journey times.

• Wednesday 11 December: The final night of work will see SH3 between Bayly Street and Nelson Street closed to all traffic from 8pm Wednesday 11 December to 6am Thursday 12 December. A detour along Princess and Bayly Streets will be in place.

The detour will add up to 5 minutes to journey times.

Last year we rebuilt sections of SH3 before and after the Princess Street intersection to allow for the installation of flexible median barrier and to ensure the highway provides reliable journeys.

We now need to come back and complete a second coat seal on these stretches of SH3. It’s standard to revisit a newly built site months later to lay a second seal to the road. This process further improves the resilience of the road surface.

We understand that the closure of this section of SH3 and detour will be an inconvenience for the local community and everyone who uses this stretch of road. Thank you to all road users for your patience and for planning your journeys.

In the event of poor weather, works may be delayed.

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