The bridge over the Ōmanawa River on State Highway 29, just south of Tauriko, is currently reduced to a 30kmh speed limit for strengthening work, but unfortunately, some road users have not been complying with the temporary speed limit.
As this is putting the strengthening work at risk, additional traffic management is urgently required to ensure road users reduce their speed.
This work requires a lane closure and stop/go traffic management from 7pm tonight (Sunday 15 May) to ensure contractors can safely install additional safe hit posts.
The work will take up to 6 hours to complete.
While we appreciate this will inconvenience road users, it is critical to ensure that traffic complies with the temporary 30kmh speed limit to keep vibrations to a minimum and enable the strengthening under the bridge to cure.
The bridge strengthening work will ensure SH29 continues to support heavy vehicle movements on what is a key freight route.
Over-weight and over-dimension permits are currently suspended until Monday 30 May.
During this time, all vehicles requiring either of these permits travelling to and from Tauranga will have to use SH2 via Waihī to the north or travel via Rotorua to the south (SH5-30A-30-33 and SH2).
The bridge remains open to all other vehicles, including HPMV and 50Max trucks, at the temporary 30kmh speed limit.
We ask that road users continue to pay attention to all temporary traffic management signs and temporary speed limits. These are in place to keep both crews and road users safe while work takes place.
We recommend road users check the Journey Planner before heading out to ensure they have the latest up-to-date information.
