Sealing work will be carried out on the Te Rapa section of the Waikato Expressway during March and the New Zealand Transport Agency advises motorists to expect some delays.
Road works will be taking place from the Wairere Interchange to the Horotiu Interchange, at various locations along the section between March 5 and March 30.
NZTA Waikato Expressway Principal Project Manager, Richard Young says, the work will initially be carried out between the North Island Main Trunk Rail Bridge and the Te Kowhai Bridge and it involves laying the second coat of chip seal on the four-lane Expressway.
Traffic management will be in place along the section from Tuesday, March 5. A 30kph speed restriction will be in place in the areas being sealed and on areas of loose chip.
This will be raised to 50kph once the areas have been swept and road marked. Motorists should be prepared for some delays while this work takes place.
“We will be doing this in short sections to reduce the length of any delays for motorists but we would like them to plan their journey time to allow for this. Motorists can use Te Rapa Road as an alternative during this time,” Mr Young says.
Drivers are asked to take care and drive to the conditions.
Mr Young says sealing work is part of the planned stages to finish the road. The first coat of chip seal was applied before the road was opened in December. The second coat seal is applied before the first winter to ensure the road is water proof before the final seal is applied.
The final surface, a smooth and quiet surface called OGPA (open grade porous asphalt), will be laid towards the end of this year.
The Waikato Expressway sections are currently at the stages described below:
The Waikato Expressway will provide for two lanes of traffic in each direction divided by a central barrier with local roads and interchanges generally serviced by bridges and underpasses. The expressway will be 102 km in length from the Bombay Hills to south of Cambridge - some 6km shorter than the current State Highway 1.
More information is available at www.nzta.govt.nz/waikato-expressway or via Facebook at www.facebook.com/waikatoexpressway(external link).
The Waikato Expressway is part of the NZTA’s roads of national significance programme (RoNS for short), which represents one of New Zealand’s biggest ever infrastructure investments. Once completed, the seven RoNS routes will reduce congestion in and around our five largest metropolitan areas, and will move people and freight between and within these centers more safely and efficiently.
Other RoNS are: Puhoi to Wellford, Auckland’s Western Ring Route, Auckland’s Victoria Park Tunnel (completed in 2012), Waikato Expressway, Wellington Northern Corridor, and Christchurch Motorways. More information is available at www.nzta.govt.nz/rons.
