Work is close to completion on a brand new road that aims to alleviate congestion on the Mill Road/Nixon Street intersection and through Central Whangarei.
Updated:
8/03/2011 4:52 p.m.
The Speddings Road extension will run from Speddings Road, Central Tikipunga, down to the new Kamo Bypass, delivering traffic directly to State Highway One.
Approximately 13,000 vehicles currently drive through the Tikipunga roundabout each day, and almost 17,000 travel through the Mill Road, Nixon Street intersection.
The number of vehicles using the Mill Road intersection is expected to drop once the extension is completed as it will provide direct access north and south along State Highway One for Coastal traffic that has up till now headed into Whangarei and along Mill Road before tracking through town to get to the State Highway network. Traffic heading to places north of the central city and out to the Tutukaka Coast and places north may also use it to avoid travelling through town.
The extension will deliver south-bound traffic to Western Hills Drive and north-bound traffic to State Highway One via the new Kamo bypass.
The drainage and earthworks for the job $2.9million job is done and over the next month main pavement work will be completed. The New Zealand Transport Agency is expected to complete work on the Kamo Bypass in spring, at which point both roads will be connected.
Council Roading Manager Jeff Devine said it was good to see the project nearing completion, within time and on budget.
“Now we are asking the public to take pride in the fact that this work is being done and to avoid the area over the next few months while we complete the surface and other minor work,” he said.
During the project great care has been taken to avoid any impact on an old cemetery site nearby. Council worked with iwi and the Historic Places Trust to ensure the site, located on private land, would not be disturbed by the road, or by people using it or the adjacent footpath in future.
“The edge of the cemetery closest to the road is marked by the remains of a stone wall. Standing with your back to the wall, there is a five metre grassed area to cross before you get to a tall fence that runs the length of the road. Over that fence there is a three-metre wide footpath/cycleway, and between the footpath and the road there are about 10 metres of road verge and drain. The closest people should be able to get to the cemetery is between eight to five metres, and there will be a very high wall between it and any foot traffic, 18 metres between it and any vehicles,” he said.
Speddings Road extension – basic facts:
- the contract was awarded in June 2010 to Downers EDI Works Ltd as a Design and Build contract
- work started in July 2010
- the main pavement work is due for completion by the end of March 2011
- all other work (tidying, marking, signs, lighting and landscaping) should be completed in May 2011
- the tender price is $2.9 million
- final construction cost will come in on budget.
Key features of the Spedding Road project:
- a 60kph speed limit
- an 8.5 metre golf fence running along the boundary with Denby Golf Course
- a timber noise fence along the boundary with William Jones Drive
- a three metre footpath/cycleway along the southern side for the entire length
- landscaping will commence in May - the aim is to beautify the new road link and provide a low maintenance landscape which is user friendly for motorists, cyclist and pedestrians
- majority of the work undertaken by Downers and local subcontractors.