Daytime and nighttime closures are planned for State Highway 60 Tākaka Hill next month, as the state highway summer maintenance season continues at the top of the South Island.
Chip sealing and asphalting works are planned – this is work carried out every year to ensure the highway’s road surface is maintained and kept in a good state of repair.
Daytime closures will be in place for chipsealing from Tuesday, 4 November to Friday, 7 November, between 9am and 3.30pm. During this time, the road will reopen once at 11.30 am to let traffic through.
This will be followed by three weeks of night closures for asphalt resurfacing and other maintenance works - from Sunday, 30 November to Friday, 19 December – between 6pm and 7am (Sunday – Thursday nights). There will be one 1am opening every night to let queued traffic through.
Rob Service, System Manager for Nelson/Tasman, says the intention is to complete the work, along with ongoing storm recovery repairs, before the summer holidays.
“Golden Bay is a popular holiday spot, and summer always brings more traffic. So, we want to get as much work as we can finished before the summer holiday season.”
Mr Service says closures are essential if the work is to be completed quickly.
“The highway over Tākaka Hill is narrow and space is restricted. Doing this maintenance under stop/go would take far longer to complete and run into the region’s holiday season. This is something we want to avoid.
“Closures also improve safety for the public and for workers and help reduce traffic management costs. It means we have more to invest in improving the road.”
Rob says he appreciates the disruption this work will cause, on top of the current recovery work being carried out on the Tākaka Hill.
“There is a lot happening on this route and we know drivers find delays from roadworks frustrating. It is critical regular users of the route factor this work into their travel plans.
“But it is a vital transport link and the floods earlier this year show just how critical it is that we continue to invest in it to strengthen its resilience and reliability. Please bear with us while we get it done.”
He says contractors will make the most of the closures to carry out additional recovery works at sites that suffered storm damage earlier this year
Rob acknowledges travel over the Tākaka Hill is vital for residents and local businesses, and their needs are important.
“We are timing the day closures to avoid the school bus run and peak commuting times. We realise the work is disruptive, but we are our hardest to meet community needs.”
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Day closures:
