Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has begun safety improvements work on SH16 Huapai to Waimauku.
The start of work was delayed by restrictions under COVID-19 Alert Levels 4 and 3, but the move to Alert Level 2 means work can now get under way with the crews following strict health and safety protocols.
At dawn this morning local iwi, Ngāti Whatua o Kaipara, performed a karakia to bless the workers and the site.
One of the first tasks is to move a gas main at Berry’s Bridge (near Foster Road) so the bridge can be widened, says Waka Kotahi Senior Manager Project Delivery Andrew Thackwray.
“This is a significant piece of work and will require traffic management to keep the road open. We ask road users to be patient, allow extra time for their journey and keep to temporary speed limits to ensure the safety of our road crews.”
Work will take place Monday to Saturday, with the crew on site from 7am to 5pm. To keep workers safe, there will be a temporary 50km/h speed zone. At times the road will be reduced to one lane with stop/go traffic management on both Foster Road and SH16 and a temporary 30kph speed limit.
“To minimise delays and disruption to traffic, the stop/go will only operate between 10:30am and 3pm. At the end of the work day we will remove most traffic management and the speed limit will be 100kmh.”
This is the first stage of planned safety improvements on SH16 between Brigham Creek and Waimauku and includes widening the road and bridges, adding a flush median, flexible safety barriers and making it safer to make right hand turns.
This work focuses on improving safety and efficiency for all road users on this stretch of state highway. Due to the number of crashes this road is classified as high risk. It is an important link for the community and, with vehicle numbers increasing, it is essential that we focus on improving safety in the short term, ahead of other long term projects.
SH16 Brigham Creek and Waimauku project page(external link)
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