The bulk of the work is set to wrap-up on the turnaround bay at Keeley’s Reserve in Karāpiro this week, just in time for the long weekend.
The necessary touches to the turnaround bay, to re-open the reserve to the public, are currently being applied to the State Highway 1 site, including hydroseeding, signage and minor concrete works, with traffic management to be removed today, Thursday 19 October.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency Regional Manager for Infrastructure Delivery, Jo Wilton, says this will be welcome news to lake users, with the work originally expected to take up to nine weeks but completed within six.
“This shorter duration in construction has been possible due to a number of factors, such as the materials used on site and the dedicated work of our contractor, J Swap Contractors.”
Ms Wilton says the only outstanding task is the installation of the streetlighting system, which will be completed just prior to Christmas or in early 2024.
“The lighting is a key component to improving safety at the entrance to the reserve and will be completed as soon as possible. Procuring the parts is taking longer than expected due to a nation-wide shortage.”
Once the site has been disestablished this week, the right-turn out of Keeley’s Reserve onto SH1 will remain open until the turnaround at Tunakawa Road is built early next year and more flexible safety median barriers are installed. At this point the right-turn out of Keeley’s Reserve will be permanently closed.
Construction of the Keely’s Reserve turnaround bay follows the recently completed turnaround bay at the intersection of SH1 and Hydro Road, providing another safe place for people driving to change direction safely.
For more on the project, visit our SH1 Cambridge and Piarere page.
SH1 Cambridge to Piarere safety improvements
Waka Kotahi thanks motorists for their patience during this work.
