SH75 Halswell Road improvements

Project update

17 July 2024

Kia ora

Work on the project kicked off in May and it’s time to let you know what’s coming up, what’s been completed so far, sharing the road and keeping up to date.

Night work to install sewer pipes starting soon

From Sunday, 21 July, we’ll be working at night (7pm to 6am) for about two weeks along the southbound lane of Halswell Road between Curletts Road and Hendersons Road. We’ll be replacing and relocating the pipes that carry wastewater/sewage from property boundaries to the sewer pipe in the road. We need to do this work now, so these pipes are not in the way when we start drainage work in early August.

We’ll be starting at Curletts Road and will work south toward Hendersons Road. This means we’ll only be outside most properties for a few nights.

Overnight, traffic will be reduced to one lane and temporary traffic lights will be in use. Please look out for the crews, any traffic management changes and follow the signs and instructions. A 30km/h speed limit will be in place.

We’re doing this work at night when traffic volumes are lower to avoid congestion and disruption. It’s also safer for our work crews and road users. Work will NOT be carried out on Friday and Saturday nights. It is weather dependent and may need to be scheduled to the following night(s).

(Left) Potholing near Curletts Road and (right) road construction at the Aidanfield Drive intersection.

What’s been happening

Work has been ongoing at the Aidanfield Drive intersection with the removal, upgrade and installation of underground services, drainage and ducting for the new traffic signals. Construction of the new road at the intersection has also begun.

You may have seen several crews working at various locations along the project area – digging holes and then refilling them – ‘potholing’. Potholing identifies the location of underground services and becomes more important and more precise as physical work is about to start.

What at times looks like a maze of cables and pipes, for services including water, stormwater, sewer, traffic signals, power and telecommunication, exists out of sight underground. The crews must navigate this to avoid outages and the loss of services to homes and businesses. Accurate potholing is vital to achieve this.

These new, upgraded and relocated services, about 700 metres so far, will help bolster future resilience. Running parallel to, but outside of, the road corridor will make them easier to repair and maintain without having to dig up the new road to get to them.

Below is a plan of what’s hidden under the Aidanfield Drive intersection. You might not be able to read the detail, but the lines represent different utilities, services and connections, and gives you an idea of what the crews need to be aware of.

Travelling through the project work areas

Please take care travelling through our work areas as we will be in different locations, with different set-ups day to day.

Unfortunately, Halswell Road is too narrow for our work site plus traffic lanes and a separated cycle lane. This means cyclists must share the traffic lanes with other vehicles.

To help everyone know how to use the road, new signage and road markings called sharrows (see photographs below) are being used. These mean that people on bikes need to ride in the lane and there is no room for vehicles to pass. While cyclists may not be going at 30km/h, please be patient, this will only add a few seconds to your journey time.

Please remember 30km/h is the maximum speed allowed through the work sites. This limit is in place to keep the crews working in the area and everyone using the road safe. Depending on the conditions, it could be appropriate to reduce your speed further.

Cyclists

Unfortunately, there aren’t viable cycle detour routes. However, depending upon where you start and finish your journey, you might find the following Christchurch City Council cycleways an alternative to Halswell Road between Dunbars Road and Curletts Road:

• Little River Link Cycleway - there is a new shared path connecting to this cycleway through Nga Puna Wai
• Quarryman's Trail Cycleway

More information, including a downloadable bike map, is available on the Council’s web pages: www.ccc.govt.nz/transport/getting-around/cycling/cycling-maps

We’ll continue to ensure cyclists and pedestrians, as the most vulnerable road users, are top of mind in our traffic management planning.

What else is coming up

We’ll continue to work at the Aidanfield Drive intersection including building the approach to the intersection, the intersection itself and installing the traffic lights.

The road closure of Aidanfield Drive between Halswell Road and Euphraisie Drive/Bibiana Street) will be in place until September.

While we’re working at the intersection, working hours may be extended to help complete the intersection as quickly as possible.

We expect work on the intersection to be completed, and the traffic lights operating, towards the end of the year.

Between Dunbars Road and Augustine Drive, we’ll be installing new utilities, including the undergrounding of about 1200 metres of overhead power lines.

Keeping up to date

Have you seen some work happening along Halswell Road and want to know what’s going on? We’ve added a new tab at the top of the project web page called ‘Upcoming work’ where we’re adding information and the works notice about work that’s about to start.

www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/sh75-halswell-road-improvements/upcoming-work/

Because work is happening at several locations and might be fairly localised, we won’t always send out an e-update as we don’t want to inundate you with emails. Residents directly affected by the work will still receive information about the work (a works notice) in their letter box, and signage will go up about a week before the work starts.

Keep warm and thank you for your patience.

Ngā mihi
SH75 Halswell Road project team

More information

For more information on the SH75 Halswell Road improvements project, visit our website: www.nzta.govt.nz/halswell 

or email us at Halswell.Road@nzta.govt.nz