The NZ Transport Agency has started the next phase of work on State Highway 1 at the Paekakariki intersection.
Road crews have nearly finished reconstructing a 1.5km stretch of the state highway and have now laid a new asphalt surface. They will be working tonight (Monday 18 February) finishing off the surface at the intersection, which may cause minor delays. From tomorrow (Tuesday) morning the temporary 50km/h speed limit is expected to be lifted and the speed limit through Paekakariki will return to 70km/h during the day time.
“We know the roadworks have been frustrating for motorists, who have been delayed by the work. We thank motorists and the Paekakariki community for their understanding and patience while we carried out this much needed maintenance on the state highway, said Operations Manager Mark Owen.
“There is never a right time to carry out maintenance on a busy road like state highway one but we do try to minimise disruption by working at night and scheduling works while the majority of people are on leave and traffic volumes are lower during peak, commuter hours. Summer is also the best time to reseal roads, as the warm temperatures and dry air helps the new seal to stick to the existing road surface. If we did the work in winter, the cold ground would mean the new surface would harden and crack, plus the stones in the chip seal could pop out if exposed to cold weather,” he added.
The new surface will provide a better, safer surface to drive on and will reduce the risk of skid-related crashes. It also provides extra shoulder width for cyclists.
NZTA has also completed changes to the road near the level crossing, which will reduce the risk of long vehicles like buses from bottoming out on the level crossing.
The next step is the improvements to the intersections with Beach Road and Paekakariki Hill Road.
Work on the intersection with Beach Road is already underway. A central traffic island has already been installed and the next stage is to add plastic posts to better separate state highway traffic from turning traffic.
We will also be banning traffic from turning right from Paekakariki Hill Road onto State Highway 1 (SH1) and banning the right hand turn from SH1 into Paekakariki Hill Road. This will involve making some changes to the entrance/exit to Paekakariki Hill Road in order to make the intersection safer and upgrading the area around the old petrol station to enable motorists to use it as a place to turn right.
The kerbing for the petrol station and left hand turn down Paekakariki Hill Road has been installed. We will be working at night to minimise delays to traffic in the day time. There will be stop/go controls in place from around 7pm to 5am, which will cause delays. Please plan ahead and leave extra time for journeys.
“Helping people to travel around our region safely is important to us and these changes should make a complicated intersection easier to use,” says Mark Owen.
Before leaving home or work, motorists can check the live traffic camera at Paekakariki on the NZTA website.
