Weekly update No. 13 Manawatū Gorge closure

This weekly update, 13 October 2017, is produced by the NZ Transport Agency to provide the latest information about the impact of the Manawatū Gorge closure and the development of an alternative transport corridor linking Manawatū, Hawke’s Bay and northern Wairarapa.

You are receiving this update because you either registered or you are on our stakeholder list. If you no longer wish to receive these updates, please unsubscribe.

We’re keen to hear your feedback and answer any questions you may have.  Drop us a line at manawatugorge@nzta.govt.nz and we will get back to you within 3 working days.

Palmerston North Open Day

Four options make shortlist

Thank you to the hundreds of people who turned out to our open days in Palmerston North and Woodville over the past couple of days to find out more about the four shortlisted options. A reminder that there is one more open day in Ashhurst today, at the Ashhurst Village Valley Centre, Guildford Street, between 3–8pm.

The shortlisted options are: 

Option 1: North of Saddle Road. This option would provide a new road corridor across the Ruahine Range north of Saddle Road and the Te Āpiti wind farm. Cost: $350m – $450m; length: 15.7km; time to complete: 5-6 years.

Option 2: Saddle Road upgrade. This option involves a major upgrade of the existing Saddle Road corridor to bring the route up to state highway standard. Cost: $300m – $400m; length: 13.8km; time to complete: 5-6 years.

Option 3: South of Saddle Road.  This option would provide a new road corridor across the Ruahine Range south of Saddle Road. Cost: $350m – $450m; length: 12.4km; time to complete: 5-6 years.

Option 4: South of the Gorge. A new option for a route south of the Manawatū Gorge providing a new road corridor which offers the most direct connection for travel to or from the southwest. Cost: $450m - $550m; length: 19.2km; time to complete: 6-7 years.

Other longlisted options, such as tunnels, a viaduct or various southern route options, are not being progressed for a variety of reasons, including lack of resilience, time to construct, environmental and cultural impacts and cost.

We are now looking for your feedback on the shortlist by 25 October.  You can use our Social Pinpoint online tool or our feedback form which, together with a map of the shortlisted options and more information, can be found on our website at www.nzta.govt.nz/manawatu-gorge

Or you can email us at manawatugorge@nzta.govt.nz

Your feedback will help us to evaluate the shortlisted options as we work towards identifying a preferred corridor by mid-December 2017.

Pahīatua Track

Maintenance work on the Pahīatua Track continues, as well as frequent inspections to ensure we are responding quickly to issues.  Extensive maintenance work is planned for the week commencing 23 October.  We will have traffic management in place so that this work can be completed quickly and safely, but there will be some delays while the work is carried out.  Please check out our Facebook page www.facebook.com/nztacni/ for the latest news and updates on the works.

Planned renewals work, including resurfacing, will take place over the coming summer months. Over the next few weeks we will provide more information about the type of work and how it may impact your travel across the Pahīatua Track.

Work in Ashhurst

The community has welcomed the reduction in noise along Salisbury Street.  Minor surface levelling on Mulgrave Street was delayed due to weather.  We will carry out this work after Labour weekend, in preparation to lay a new asphalt surface. We have started discussing maintenance work for Wyndham Street with Palmerston North City Council, which will occur following the work in Mulgrave Street.

We have installed the new speed cushions on Worcester Street and want to hear from Ashhurst residents on the effectiveness of the cushions, so we can determine their suitability for use in other Ashhurst streets. You can email us your feedback to manawatugorge@nzta.govt.nz. If these speed cushions are successful in reducing vehicle speed and vibrations, we will install them on the other impacted side streets.

Saddle Road

We are planning for lane closures Monday through to Thursday next week to complete extensive maintenance, repair developing failures and continue to improve the road surface before Labour weekend. This work is weather dependent so closure days may change - we will provide daily information on the electronic message boards.

Further upgrades to Saddle Road will continue from 15 October. Initially, works will take place at night with lane closures between 6pm and 6am. The work sites will be under stop/go traffic management and we will provide daily information on the electronic message boards.

Please check out our Facebook page www.facebook.com/nztacni/ for the latest news and updates on the works.

Update on temporary bypass of Ashhurst & Woodville realignment

We appreciate this is a pressing concern for many of you and we are continuing to work towards the potential temporary bypass route of Ashhurst and the realignment of the corners heading into Woodville.  We will let you know as soon as there are new developments.

More information

For more information on the SH3 Manawatū Gorge 2017 closure, contact us at manawatugorge@nzta.govt.nz

Visit our website www.nzta.govt.nz/manawatu-gorge