View online | Unsubscribe
 
banner

Motueka High Street

Motueka High Street.

 

Safety work on Motueka’s High Street starting soon

The High Street of Motueka is another step closer to being safer for everyone, with improvements to the intersections and pedestrian crossing starting on Monday 2 August.

In August 2020, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency received $6.8 million as part of the Government’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund to improve safety on Motueka High Street on State Highway 60 (SH60).

These safety improvements will ensure everyone who uses High Street can get to where they are going safely, whether they are driving through or visiting Motueka’s bustling town centre.

High Street is a busy road with lots of people driving, walking and cycling. By making the intersections safer with a roundabout and traffic signals, and replacing the existing zebra crossing on High Street near Wallace Street with traffic signals, everyone will be able to get to where there going more safely.

We will deliver four safety improvements for the community:

  • A new roundabout to improve access onto SH60 at the King Edward Street and Old Wharf Road intersection.
     
  • Traffic signals at the Tudor/High Street intersection, and the existing zebra crossing just north of this intersection will be removed.
     
  • Pedestrian signals on the existing zebra crossing on High Street north of Wallace Street, along with a right turn bay into Wallace Street. 
     
  • Traffic signals at the Pah/Greenwood/High Street intersection, and the existing zebra crossing on High Street, just south of the Pah/Greenwood/High Street intersection will be removed.

For updated design maps and further information, visit www.nzta.govt.nz/sh60-motueka-safety-improvements/

 

 

Construction timelines

On Monday 2 August we will start construction on the traffic signals for Pah/Greenwood/High Street and Tudor/High Street intersections, and for the existing zebra crossing on High Street near Wallace Street.

We expect the work on traffic signals to be completed by early December 2021 but will be subject to weather conditions. We will keep community and businesses updated on progress throughout the project.

Construction on the new roundabout at the Old Wharf Road and High Street intersection will start in September 2020.

We will pause all on-road construction during the busy summertime (2 December 2021 – 11 February 2022) to avoid disrupting businesses and locals during this time. During this time, we will look to do off-road construction activity that will not disrupt traffic.

High Street will remain open to everyone during construction, including people driving, walking or cycling. We will have traffic management in place which may mean some delays for people driving. We encourage you to plan your trips and leave earlier to allow enough time to get to where you are going safely.

Leading into and during construction, we will keep businesses on High Street updated to help ensure they continue to work with customers and suppliers while work is underway.

Most of our activity will be undertaken 7am – 5pm Monday to Friday. We do not except any weekend work at this stage.

We will need to do some overnight work and will provide plenty of notice before we begin. During night works we will have traffic management in place which may reduce High Street down to one lane and have stop/go in place that may mean people will have to wait up to 10 minutes to get through High Street.

Some local roads closures/minor detours adjacent to High street will be required during some parts of the work. We will advise local businesses and the community before any closures, detours, or traffic management are put in place.

Businesses who are concerned about construction impacts can contact our construction contractor Fulton Hogan, on 03 547 9789. From the 26 July the community will be able to visit Fulton Hogan onsite at their pop-up offices at 175 High Street.

 

 

Community feedback

These safety improvements have been shared with the community, first in 2017, and again in 2021 once funding was confirmed and we had updated our detailed designs.

We appreciated the feedback we received from the community, it has helped us to refine the designs for the safety improvements.

During our recent engagement, we heard some community members were concerned about the proposed removal of some of the trees on High Street.

We have further reviewed our designs and we will keep five trees that were going to be removed.

We will still need to remove some trees to provide space for the new traffic signals. These trees are in the road reserve and we need this space for the turning lanes at the intersections, to help drivers turn right.

Removing trees is not something we ever do lightly, and we have given this a lot of careful thought. Unfortunately, without removing some of the trees, we cannot make the intersections any safer for people walking and driving, nor enable people to easily access the High Street from the side streets.

As part of the project, we will plant nine new trees in planter boxes, and several low-level native planting beds in various locations along High Street and at the intersections. We are also investigating planting a Titoki tree in a new tree pit near the vicinity of Bowater Toyota on High Street. The Titoki tree has been selected as it suits the urban environment.

We will plant Pohutukawa - Metrosideros excelsa cultivars and Titoki - Alectryon excelsus in the planter boxes.  It’s important to note, we may need to substitute the species of tree in the planter box if the Pohutukawa or Titoki species are not available. We will let you know if this happens. Alternative species that could be selected are: Broadleaf lime tree - Tilia platyphyllos; Hornbeam - Carpinus betulus; or Golden Elm - Ulmus glabra ‘Lutescens’

In addition to the safety improvements, the Tasman District Council will be progressing a wider plan to improve the urban form of Motueka township in the coming few years. It is expected this work will consider a range of urban design and liveability aspects around the town centre including planting, parking, active travel, public transport, open spaces. This is a longer-term project, which the Council will work with the community on.

For further information, click on the links below:

 

 

Safer speed limits

In parallel to this project, Waka Kotahi is reviewing speed limits along High Street.

In April 2021, we asked you what you thought about the current speed limits on SH60 High Street, from the Wharf Road roundabout to south of Staples Street.

We are currently reviewing the feedback we received, alongside our technical assessment. In the coming months we will come back to you for formal consultation on proposed speed limit changes. 

To see what people had to say about the speed limits, read our engagement summary report

Find out more about our speed review process.

 
Image

 
spacer

More information

spacer
 
 

For more information on the SH60 Motueka safety improvements project, contact us at SH60Motueka@nzta.govt.nz

Visit our website www.nzta.govt.nz/sh60-motueka-safety-improvements/