Safety project kicks off

Kia Ora,

We are progressing well on the Wainui to Ōpōtiki safety improvements project and over the past few weeks our construction crews have been busy completing earthworks in preparation for the installation of barriers.

Our site office is now set up adjacent to Waiōtahe Waitomo Fuel Station.

We have had a fantastic local success story regarding employment. This newsletter highlights this, and what you can expect with construction.

Set up: Splice has a site office near Waiōtahe Waitomo Fuel Station

Local Job and Training Opportunities

Not only will our safety improvements save lives, they are already creating job and training opportunities for locals.

This project has so far resulted in full-time employment for 15 local people with civil construction company Splice Construction through the government-wide Broader Outcomes initiative. 

The initiative seeks to achieve wider social, economic, cultural and environmental outcomes through the acquisition of goods, services and works.

The Broader Outcomes strategy establishes four target areas for our procurement activities: environment and sustainability; Māori business and tangata whenua; economic and employment; and community and culture.

It’s fantastic to be able to offer opportunities to upskill people so they can develop a career that takes them as far as they want to go.

Along with Splice, we are pleased with the positive feedback we’ve received, and proud to be supporting the wider Ōpōtiki community.

Slow down: please be patient when driving through work sites to keep everyone safe

What to Expect During Construction

The construction team is making good progress with two active sites between SH2 / Wainui Road Intersection and SH2 / Waiōtahe Valley Back Road Intersection. 

The team has completed earthworks for these sites and expects to seal the widened shoulder and begin installing barriers soon.

We want to remind people that there will be speed restrictions, one-lane closures and stop/go traffic management in place throughout the project. There may also be minor delays as a result of the work.

When driving through the work sites, please follow any temporary speed limits and traffic management for your safety, and that of our road workers and other road users.

This is your whānau.

This project is being delivered as part of the speed and infrastructure programme, a key part of Road to Zero, which sets a target of reducing the amount of people killed or seriously injured on New Zealand’s roads by 40 per cent by 2030.

What about speed?

Waka Kotahi is identifying roads where safer speed limits can make a big difference in saving lives, and where communities are calling for change.

SH2 between Paengaroa and Ōpōtiki has been identified as one of them.

A technical assessment of the current speed limits for SH2 is underway.

The technical assessment takes into account crash history, average vehicle speeds, volume of vehicles on the road and development of surrounding areas and helps us to determine if changing the speed limits is the best thing to do to improve road safety, where new speed limits might begin or end, and if any other safety improvements might be needed.

After the technical assessment is completed, and if it determines the current speed limits are not safe and appropriate, there will be further steps we will need to complete before changing any speed limits, including engagement and consultation with the community.

As part of this we will work closely with our iwi partners, local government, road safety partners, and the community as local knowledge is vital to our speed review process.

More information

For more information on the SH2 Wainui Road to Ōpōtiki project, or if you have any questions, contact Project Manager Malcolme Flattery at bopprojects@nzta.govt.nz