Higgins contractors will return to finish the Salisbury Street footpath and kerb build outs this month.

Kia ora

Right now, the world has been given a shake up and there is no denying that some things are really tough.
Our routines have been turned upside down and many of us are still finding our feet. We hope you and your family and friends are doing ok.
Over the last few weeks our crews have been learning and preparing for a whole new way of working so they can stay safe, and keep you safe, when they return to Ashhurst this month.
It's a world of strict standards and guidelines around physical distancing, cleaning of plant, tools and vehicles, and new processes so they can accurately trace people should they need to.
It's a new way of doing things but the team are excited to get back to it in the coming days. If you see them, give them a wave and say hello from a safe distance. 
This month they will be back in Salisbury Street, finishing off the new footpath and kerb buildouts.
They'll also start upgrading the Bamfield, Lincoln and Worcester Street intersections and begin work in the Ashhurst village centre.

You can read more about these sites below. All of the designs are avaliable to view on our website. 

Ngā mihi,

The project team

Visitors

You will notice our teams setting up work sites over the coming days. Normally we like to chat face to face but we need to request that physical distancing requirements be respected at this time.
Please do not approach our workers or enter our work sites without formal approval.
If you do need one of the team to come and see you, we can organise this but with appropriate physical distancing and safety in mind.
You can call or text us on 0279778866 or email ashhurst@nzta.govt.nz if you have any questions or want to arrange a visit.
Thanks for your understanding.

The community forum group will meet regularly to discuss the transport network in Ashhurst.

Partnering with Palmerston North City Council and the community

Palmerston North City Council (PNCC) and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency have re-established a community forum that met on 5th May.
The group is made up of representatives from PNCC and Waka Kotahi, Ashhurst residents and the local business community.
The forum is a way for any local transport network issues and opportunities to be discussed openly.
PNCC are planning several transport projects to bring streets up to city standard with drainage, kerb and channelling, new footpaths and other improvements to make it safer for people to walk, cycle and use mobility scooters. Upgrades to water infrastructure are also planned. 
The work Waka Kotahi is doing has been designed to complement the PNCC transport projects. 

Short term footpath improvements being planned by PNCC include: 

• Stanford Street – eastern side – new footpath from 44 Mulgrave Street to 78 Stanford South Street.
• 63 North Street – new pram ramp at Cambridge Avenue.
• Lincoln Street & Winchester Street – new pram ramps.
• Oxford Street – eastern side – new footpath from Lincoln Street to Worcester Street.
• Worcester Street – south side – new footpath from Oxford Street to Cambridge Avenue.
• Oxford Street – east side – new footpath from Worcester Street to Wyndham Street.
• Wyndham Street – south side – new footpath from Cambridge Street to 82 Wyndham Street

Other projects are detailed on pages 309-311 of Council’s Long Term Plan: https://www.pncc.govt.nz/media/3131028/10-year-plan-2018-28.pdf

In total, over the next 10 years, there is a planned spend of $13.8 million in Ashhurst.

Community pop-in sessions

We’d like to thank everyone who came to our community pop-in sessions in February and early March to give feedback on our designs for Ashhurst.
The project team have been working through all the comments as they refine the designs and get ready for construction.
If you didn’t make it to one of these events, you can check out the designs online www.nzta.govt.nz/ashhurst

An artist impression of the Cambridge Avenue and Bamfield Street intersection, with Ashhurst Library in the background.

Ashhurst Village Centre work

There’s a lot of support for the changes we have planned in the Ashhurst village centre and many of you who attended the open days were keen to see work start as soon as possible.
We were planning to start work in early April, but this was postponed due to COVID-19.  We now expect to start on May 11.
We are going to create a raised intersection at Cambridge Avenue/Bamfield Street, see artist impression above, and install two raised platforms, one outside the RSA and one outside Ashhurst School at the pedestrian crossing.
These will all be made from precast ramps and will act like large speed bumps, encouraging drivers to slow down as they travel along Cambridge Avenue.
The new slow speed environment will make it safer for people to cross the road and encourage drivers to stop for a break and enjoy the Ashhurst town centre.
We’re also going to do some planting and other landscaping work to better connect the footpaths and the road and install new bike racks. This work will complement improvements PNCC is planning.
We are going to start work on the raised platform outside the RSA first, then move onto the one outside Ashhurst School.
There will be lane closures and stop/go traffic management in place for eight weeks while we install these. Our contractors will be monitoring traffic and will keep delays to a minimum.
Following this we will work on the large raised intersection near Ashhurst Library. We will update you on traffic management plans for this section in the coming weeks.

Bamfield, Lincoln, Worcester Streets

We know people living in these quiet, residential streets are having issues with the extra traffic travelling past their homes.
This month we are going to start adding median islands at the Bamfield, Lincoln and Worcester Street intersections, where they meet with Stanford Street and Cambridge Avenue.
We will also re-paint the road markings and change the give way priority to Stanford Street.
These changes will help discourage drivers from using these routes to overtake cars on the main roads, reducing the amount of traffic using these roads.
They will also slow down vehicles who do turn into them, creating a safer environment for residents.
You can check out the designs for this area on our website.

Salisbury Street footpath 90 percent complete

Work on the new footpath along the eastern side of Salisbury Street will continue from this month.
Our crews will finish the final sections of the path and continue installing kerb build-outs, like the ones along Wyndham Street, along both sides of the road.
These build-outs help slow traffic, creating a safer street for cyclists and pedestrians.
Crews will also be working on the western side of Salisbury Street, where we will install median islands at the intersections with Bamfield, Lincoln and Worcester. These islands will slow traffic as they enter and exit these streets.
Our plan is to finish the new footpath then come back to finish the kerb buildouts, median islands and any driveway access points along the road, block by block.
Works will be carried out between 7.00am and 5.00pm Monday to Friday and on some Saturdays.

Weather permitting, we will be finished by mid-2020.

Hilary Crescent, York Street and the SH3 intersection

COVID-19 may have stopped construction for a few weeks but the design team have been hard at work on plans for the southern end of Ashhurst.
The work is all about improving safety around Hilary Crescent, York Street and the SH3 Cambridge intersection.
At the recent open days, we shared our designs for the following areas and got some great feedback from residents.
We are refining our designs and will share them with you soon.

The Mulgrave Street/Cambridge Avenue roundabout has been upgraded. Plans to add traffic lights here have been dropped following community feedback.

We listened: Traffic lights not going ahead

Last year, when we shared our concept drawings with you, one of our early ideas was having traffic lights at the Mulgrave Street intersection.
We thought the traffic lights would help reduce night-time truck noise.
A number of people told us they liked the small town feel of Ashhurst and felt that traffic lights were too much.
Others said they were worried the lights would create queues during the day.
We took another look and have opted to make less intrusive changes to reduce noise at this intersection.
We have upgraded the roundabout to make it easier for larger vehicles to cross without stopping. This means the traffic lights don’t need to be installed. 

More information

For more information on Ashhurst traffic mitigation, contact us at ashhurst@nzta.govt.nz or visit our website www.nzta.govt.nz/ashhurst

If you’d like to find out more about the SH3 Manawatū Gorge replacement route you can go to www.nzta.govt.nz/manawatu-gorge