The End is in sight

We are pleased to let you know that we are in the final stages of the project which we plan to complete in August 2020.

We have made significant progress on the project over the past few months, especially in January and February thanks to the mostly sunny and stable weather - excellent conditions for construction work. 

Traffic was moved on to the newly constructed northbound lanes late last year, just before the Christmas rush.

The demolition of the old Otaika Bridge and the start of the second stage of the new bridge construction, crucial to project, is now well underway. If you drive through the site, you will see the piling rig and large crane that we are using for this work.

People on foot through the area can now use the opposite side of the bridge on a temporary, purpose built walkway.

We have finished building the new retaining walls on private properties along Otaika Road. These retaining walls will help support a wider, four lane state highway once our work is completed. The retaining walls will also help minimise road noise for residents.

We are continuing laying storm water pipes and constructing the kerb and channel that runs along the road edge. We are also continuing to lay road pavement and footpaths along the southbound lanes on SH1 and Tarewa Road.

What you need to know

Over the next few months you will see several obvious changes as we move traffic around on site to complete roadworks.

Please remember to allow extra time for your journey and take care as drivers get used to the changing layouts.

We appreciate your patience and you may wish to consider using Rewa Rewa Road as an alternative route to the city if you are driving in from the south.

Image 1 (below): Piling and construction of the new Otaika Bridge

Image 2 (above): Kerbing, new street lighting and road preparation including cycle lane on the southern lanes of SH1 / Otakia Road.

Worked planned for March

We plan to:

• Complete road surfacing and start laying the footpaths on Tarewa Road and the northern end of Otaika Road.

• Complete piling for the southern abutment of the bridge and then start building the abutment itself. We will also start piling for the northern abutment. (An abutment is the substructure at each end of a bridge that helps support it).

• Complete the road widening installing the traffic island at the southern end of SH1 / Otaika Road.

Image 3 (above): SH1 new northbound lanes just prior to opening.

Future milestone

March - Complete works at the intersection of SH1 and Tarewa Road. At this point, the new traffic lights will have been installed but won't be operational. We will have temporary traffic management in place until we complete the new Otaika Bridge in July.

April/May - Continue building the new Otaika Bridge.

June/July - Complete building the new Otaika Bridge and 'stitch' the new bridge section to the previously completed section. This will allow us to open all four lanes to traffic and turn on the new traffic lights at SH1/Tarewa Road intersection.

More information

For more information on the Tarewa Road intersection improvements project, contact us by emailing tarewa@downer.co.nz

Visit our website www.nzta.govt.nz/tarewa-road

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