Longer waits and night-time closures at Takaka Hill road rebuild – Stuff.co.nz

Braden Fastier

Contractors work to restore a section of SH60 on Takaka Hill after part of the road sunk this morning. Work had been ongoing since the road was wiped out by ex-tropical cyclone Gita in February last 2018.

Drivers face longer waits of up to 14 minutes at traffic lightsand night-time closuresas work to rebuild the cyclone-damaged Takaka Hill road begins onfive new complex sites.

NZ Transport Agency'sprincipal project manager for the rebuild,Chris Robertson, said people using thehill road wouldnotice a change in how the single lane traffic wasmanaged from thisweek.

There would be a new position for the top traffic light which controls vehicle movements, he said.

Thework signals the second stage of the repairs needed to SH60, the only road access to Golden Bay, after ex-tropical-cyclone Gita caused extensive damage in February 2018.

Work will continue for the rest of theyear, aiming to re-open to two lanes by the end of this year.

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For safety reasons, Robertson asked cyclists to avoid the hill if possible while construction wasunderway between mid-March and October 2020.

"There willbe heavy construction plant operating nearby and the road width will be significantly reduced," Robertson said.

Supplied

Map showing the shift in traffic signal location near the top of Takaka Hill, which will be in place in coming weeks.

Since 2018, road access between Riwaka and the top of the Takaka Hill has been controlled over the one-lane sections with traffic signals. A timer shows people how long they have to wait.

Robertson said for thecrews to get to the slip site at the top of the hill, the road must be reduced to one lane, and it needed to shift the traffic lights by 700 metres to include this area.

This wouldadd two minutes to wait times at the lights, increasing the total wait time to up to 14 minutes at each end of the stop points.

He said they planned tostart moving the lights on Mondayor Tuesday, weather permitting.

"This shift will take about two weeks to complete so during this time manual stop/go traffic management wouldbe used.

Retaining wall designs hadnow been completed at the five significantly damaged sites on Takaka Hill with construction underway from mid-March.

The remaining five sites wereall significant pieces of work with geotechnical risks, and there had been a huge amount of planning work needed before this work could safely get underway, Robertson said.

NZTA

Work on the new sections of the damaged Takaka Hill road are set to start in March

Repairs to the 10less complex sites were completed in 2019.

Before on-site works get underway this month the safety barriers around the five major sites needed to be replaced, taking around 10nights.

The road wouldbe closed to do this work, with an opening for essential travel. The times and schedules wereyet to be confirmed.

"The night closures will increase safety for maintenance crews, significantly reduce the number of day-time disruptions on Takaka Hill road and enable better quality maintenance and slip prevention work," Robertson said.

Access will be available for emergency services throughout the night closures.

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Longer waits and night-time closures at Takaka Hill road rebuild - Stuff.co.nz