Te Puna roundabout to continue

Work on the Te Puna roundabout will continue through winter. Photo: Supplied.

Work on the Te Puna roundabout project will continue through winter.

NZ Transport Agency's Director Regional Relationships, Parekawhia McLean says the work will continue to get the project finished as soon as possible.

The project was originally scheduled to be finished by July 2017, but it has been delayed by unprecedented rainfall in March and April from severe weather events like Cyclone Debbie, and challenges with the relocation of power and telecommunications cables.

The construction season generally ends in May and starts again in September.

'We understand the considerable frustration and inconvenience these works have caused to the community and businesses and we have determined that if we use a different construction method for the pavement we can continue the work in cold and wet conditions to get the job done as soon as possible,” says Parekawhia.

The opportunity to work overnight is also being reassessed, but with 20,000 vehicles each day, delays are inevitable.

'We'll continue to work hard to minimise disruption, but due to the nature of this work and the high daily traffic volumes some delays are inevitable over the next few months, and we're urging people to factor in additional travel time for their journeys.”

It's now expected the work on the state highway will be complete in August.

Continuing work during the wet winter months means it's possible that re-sealing will be needed after the project's completion. The alternative is to wait until mid-September to re-start works on the state highway, which would put the completion date into December.

The remaining work includes the construction of the roundabout, the sealing of all sections of the road, raising the level of some lanes, completing local road tie-ins to the roundabout and lighting and landscaping.

The two-lane roundabout will replace the Te Puna/Minden Road intersection, significantly improving safety for motorists travelling on the route.

The roundabout is part of an overall plan to reduce death and serious injury crashes on State Highway 2 between Waihi and Tauranga.

A construction crew will be carrying out sealing over the rebuilt section of State Highway 2 at Te Puna at the northern end of the project next week.

The NZ Transport Agency says this work doesn't create as much noise as excavation so it can take place at night between 8pm and 6am.

Road users will see stop/go traffic management in place and are being asked to adhere to a 30km/h temporary speed limit.

Current consent conditions don't allow excavation or noisy work to occur at night on the Te Puna project but this is currently being reassessed.

12 comments

Good job really..........

Posted on 02-06-2017 07:29 | By The Hobbit

Can you imagine the flack this lot would have got if they packed up work for the winter!? Don't go blaming the poor weather in March and April for the way this project has been managed. Maybe contractors should have worked at weekends when the weather was good. Maybe the contractors shouldn't have finished so early for Christmas last year. Maybe contractors shouldn't have taken so long off for Christmas. Maybe contractors should have worked Public Holidays. Maybe contractors should have worked during the night when the weather was good. Maybe the contract should have been awarded to a different company. As for possibly having to resurface the road - isn't this the norm in NZ? The whole project - a complete joke. A classroom full of 5 year olds could have project managed this better!!!


Too late again

Posted on 02-06-2017 09:46 | By rosbo

This is an object lesson in leaving it too late. If this work had been done 10 years ago traffic volumes would have been a lot less and would have caused less disruption. The necessity for it was obvious then.


How about working

Posted on 02-06-2017 09:54 | By The Caveman

24/7 until the job is completed. Seems to me that contractors who get these jobs DON'T have sufficient workers for even a 8 hour day.


Detour.

Posted on 02-06-2017 10:01 | By Mackka

Why not leave the workers to get on with their work 24/7 and divert the traffic through Snodgrass Road, Borrell Road, Te Puna Station Road?? I very much doubt that the change in the road layout will be an improvement on what we had prior to the upheaval!


Unbelievable!!!!!

Posted on 02-06-2017 10:13 | By thebrads6

Nice "fluffy" comments from NZ Transport Agency's Director Regional Relationships, Parekawhia McLean! Just wondering though, do you have a car? Have you ever experienced, first hand, the way roading projects are actually managed in NZ? Have you ever been to Te Puna? Yes this is a tricky project, but with 20,000 vehicles worth of people PER DAY saying it is a stuff-up, why has it taken so long to actually do something?


Fed up Local!

Posted on 02-06-2017 11:26 | By Yeah right!

Well said Hobbit. As for us long suffering locals, how much more can we put up with. There are so many days when it appears that absolutely nothing is being done. We struggle to get out of Te Puna road as no one wants to let us in, as for crossing to Farmlands or the Butcher, that's just taking your life in your hands, it's down right dangerous. Get on with the job and get it finished we've had enough.


te puna roundabout

Posted on 02-06-2017 13:04 | By phoenix

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you,happy birthday te puna roundabout happy birthday to you.


Anybody notice

Posted on 02-06-2017 13:30 | By old trucker

A health and SAFETY scene here,NOTICE ALL THE DUST, WHERE is the water cart,(OH THATS RIGHT)you need a BRAIN,only KIDS working on this but too BUSY looking at there cellphones,immmmmm.there has been NO accidents scince the 50 kphr signs went up, THATS all that was NEEDED,and save $8million, Gosh i had already suggested that,and would have cost Nothing, oh hang on, thats too simple gosh why did they not think of that,and would have taken a month of meetings to think that through,and still not have registered,golly gosh what a SHAMBLES,my thoughts only,Sunlive, No1, Thankyou, 10-4.


It is

Posted on 02-06-2017 15:59 | By Merlin

A total stuff up.Went to Bethlehem and a group was standing there like having a meeting still there when came back 3/4 hour later.Next day meeting on the other side of the road.Was going to say more but would probably not get printed.


Weve had enough!!

Posted on 02-06-2017 17:43 | By happythoughts

To the 1000's of commuters who have to travel this road daily, like myself, we have had enough. This used to be a desirable area of the city to live in, but day after day from 7am in the morning, we are dealing with bumper to bumper traffic. Our work days have become increasingly longer and stressful by trying to get too and from work/town/school. To see the contractors standing on the side of the road doing sweet F A daily makes it even more frustrating. They will be getting paid millions to get this project done. Work through the night, do what you have to do, to get this road completed for the 1000's of us that have to deal with it daily!!!


is there any hope??

Posted on 03-06-2017 14:18 | By sh2 commuter

If Te Puna roundabout is the best organised project that the muppets at NZTA can manage - what on earth is going to happen when the Tauranga Northern project starts. Dont expect to be able to get from Omokoroa to town in under 2hrs. Heaven help the region when the improvements from Te Puna to Omokoroa start. It will be time to return to the modest congestion of Auckland. Sadly we tax payers are paying for this incompetent service. Perhaps Simon Bridges would care to investigate the appalling performance at Te Puna.


FIVE YEARS AGO

Posted on 03-06-2017 22:17 | By The Caveman

I went to Singapore. On the taxi trip from the airport to the central city at 10.30pm, I asked the taxi driver what all the lights were along side the road - OH he said - NEW six lane expressway! I asked how long to complete - ANSWER - 12 months from start to finish - 20 kms !!! Back in Singapore 15 months later - TOTALLY COMPLETE, and the road looked like it had been there 10 years. WHY, construction was a 24/7 operation !!!!! None of the NZ crap of 8 hours , less lunch, less morning and afternoon tea. EXPENSIVE construction machinery in Asia is operated 24/7, not the six hours a day as is the case in NZ


Leave a Comment


You must be logged in to make a comment.