Monthly Archives: November 2021

Prepare for delays on SH2 next week

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Bay of Plenty System Manager Roger Brady says Waka Kotahi is working hard to minimise delays as much as possible and work will be completed overnight between 7pm and 5am.

“While it is difficult to give specific delay times, based on past experience, there will be significant disruption and people should plan for delays of up to 45 minutes.”

Work will take place at the following locations:

Week 1

  • Tuesday 9 November – Old Tauranga Road to Mathers Road
  • Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 November – Wainui South Road to Pahoia Road
  • Friday 12 November – Kauri Point Road to Stokes Road

Week 2

  • Sunday 21 and Monday 22 November – Snodgrass Road to Loop Road

“We understand delays are frustrating, however, this is critical safety and resilience work. The maintenance season has been unseasonably wet so far and our contractors are completing work whenever they can. We need fine weather, and will postpone work in wet weather.”

Mr Brady advises people to visit the Journey Planner website for up-to-date information.

Journey Planner

“Those who can are encouraged to work from home and avoid unnecessary travel to lessen the impact.”

Overnight there will be Stop/Go in place with 30km/h temporary speed limits.

“Traffic management staff will monitor worksites and will not set up the sites until after the evening peak.

“Motorists should follow the relevant temporary speed limits to ensure the safety of other road users,  road workers and themselves, and avoid damaging their vehicles,” says Mr Brady.

For at least 24 hours after a site is sealed, and before being swept, it continues to operate under a reduced temporary speed limit while vehicles travel over the seal and help “bed in” the chip. This helps reduce the risk of windscreen damage. Sites are then swept, excess chip removed, and the temporary speed limit remains in place until line marking is reinstated (within 48 hours, weather dependent).

“Please slow down, leave space and be patient. We want to keep everyone safe, including our road workers.”

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Convenience? A rubbish excuse, take your litter with you

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While we may pride ourselves on being “Tidy Kiwis” as much is $2m is being spent on litter management across Auckland’s state highways every year.

“Fast food wrappers are what our teams spend most of their time picking up, normally thrown from the window of vehicles” says Waka Kotahi Auckland System Manager Paul Geck.

“The effort taken, and resources used to continuously clean this up is money that we would rather invest back in our network. Instead of picking up after a few, our top priority is making safety improvements that save lives and benefit all road users like fixing potholes, road surface damage, signs and road markings.”

“Our workers need to negotiate live traffic environments in order to pick up this rubbish, so if we can change the behaviour around littering, we reduce the risk to our staff while also protecting our environment.”

80% of the litter found in New Zealand waterways comes from land. In Auckland alone, the majority is ending up in the Waitemāta Harbour and is detrimental to the ecosystem.

“We all have a responsibility to keep our roads safe and tidy, whether it’s by stopping someone from throwing their litter out the window or by reporting someone dumping rubbish on the roadside.”

Auckland System Management (ASM) is an alliance between Waka Kotahi, HEB Construction and Fulton Hogan to operate and maintain Auckland’s motorway network.

ASM can’t penalise or fine litterers, but it can provide details to Auckland Council which can impose fines.

“We have cameras covering the motorway network for traffic management and emergencies, but we’ve also installed a dedicated camera at a particular motorway hotspot to try and deter dumpers,” says Paul Geck.

Litter crews are also spending a large amount of time cleaning rubbish near residential areas which back onto the motorway, only to return a few months later to find more household rubbish, dirty nappies, and even whiteware clogging up the area.

The billboard campaign will target the worst affected areas in west Auckland (State Highway 16), south Auckland (SH20 and SH22) and the North Shore (SH1).

Waka Kotahi also want to remind people to make sure their loads are secure.

“The main litter problem is people throwing stuff from their vehicles, but 5-10% of crashes on Auckland motorways are caused by drivers swerving to avoid debris on the road,” says Paul Geck.

You can report someone littering by calling 0800 44 4449 or emailing email hidden; JavaScript is required

Camera being installed at rubbish dumping hotspot along an Auckland motorway corridor.

Rubbish dumped next to State Highway 20

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Serious Crash, Main South Road

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District:

Canterbury

Emergency services are responding to a serious crash on SH 1 Main South Road near Foremans Road in Christchurch.

The two-vehicle crash, between a truck and a car, was reported to Police at about 6:50am.

Initial indications are that one person is seriously injured.

The road is blocked and motorists are advised to expect delays in the area.

The Serious Crash Unit has been advised.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre

2022 Lincoln Aviator

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2022 Lincoln AviatorWhat kind of car is the 2022 Lincoln Aviator? The Aviator slots between the big Navigator and compact Corsair in Lincoln’s luxury-SUV family. It’s a rival for other three-row SUVs such as the Audi Q7 and Kia Telluride. Is the 2022 Lincoln Aviator a good car? We’re not sold on the pricey Grand Touring, but most Aviators have lush…

Upcoming closures of Pahiatua Track for essential maintenance

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The road will be closed from 9am to 2:30pm, Monday to Friday, for five weeks. Stop/go traffic management will also be in place each day, between 7am and 9am, and again between 2:30pm and 5pm.

“While the road is closed we’re undertaking road reconstruction work at two locations along the Pahiatua Track along with other maintenance works across the route,” Regional Transport System Manager Ross I’Anson says.

“Closing the road help make it a safer working environment for workers and also means the work can be completed in less time.”

Access will remain open to Pahiatua Track residents, worksites on Pahiatua Track, and for emergency services.

“These essential works will help make journeys on the Pahiatua Track safer and smoother. We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding while we undertake this work,” Mr I’Anson says.

All roadworks are dependent on weather and other factors, and may be cancelled or postponed at late notice. Check the Waka Kotahi Facebook page or Journey Planner for traffic updates (see below for links).

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Truck rollover SH14, Tangiteroria

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District:

Northland

A truck has rolled over on SH14 Tangiteroria, Kaiprara District at about 1.30pm today.

The driver of the truck has suffered moderate injuries and has been taken to hospital.

There are no diversions available so road users are asked to avoid the area due to extensive delays.

A crane will be required to remove the truck and is expected to take a number of hours.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre

 

 

Tinwald traffic delays overnight from Monday, 1 November, for up to six nights

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Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency crews are removing the old highway surface between Manchester and Graham Streets and laying new asphalt.

A single lane of traffic will be available 7 pm to 6 am the following morning, with Stop/Go manual traffic management keeping people moving. Emergency services will be accommodated at all times, says Tresca Forrester, Journey Manager for Waka Kotahi.

“This work is of necessity quite noisy, but crews will do their best to get it done as quickly as possible in the overnight hours when traffic numbers are at their lowest.”

Ms Forrester thanked everyone for their patience and noted it is weather dependent so a wet night may cause the work to roll onto the next dry night.

At this stage, the work will take place Monday to Friday and Sunday night 7 November if needed.

Location of the work site in Tinwald, SH1

How the highway surface is looking currently with crazing visible along the left hand lane, letting water under the surface.

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Protecting the Westland petrel/tāiko this summer in Punakaiki

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“In consultation with Buller District Council, all streetlights from Waikori Road in the south to Bullock Creek Road on the north side of Punakaiki will be turned off on Monday, 8 November 2021 and turned back on Monday, 10 January, 2022,” says Colin Hey, Senior Network Manager for Waka Kotahi.

Pedestrians, who are the main beneficiaries of the lights, are advised to take extra care at night during this time with cautionary signage being installed on either side of the 3.4 km section of highway affected.

“Buller District Council supports Waka Kotahi in this initiative to help protect fledgling Westland petrels from disorientation from streetlights and will darken its local road streetlights in the Punakaiki township during the same dates,” says Eric de Boer, Manager Infrastructure Delivery for Buller District Council.

The Westland petrel/tāiko fledglings or chicks nest in burrows and can become disoriented from bright lights under their flight paths causing them to crash land nearby, a phenomena known as fallout. As well as street-lights, any bright lights can attract these birds to land, and cause fallout.

“The breeding colony is just south of Punakaiki, with petrel fledglings beginning to fly from early November,” says Mr Hey.

Last year was the first season Waka Kotahi turned off the LED street-lights in Punakaiki. Initial results indicated that fewer birds were found disoriented or killed by vehicles in Punakaiki. More will be known next year after the second season with Punakaiki’s lights off.

Safer footpath

The footpath through Punakaiki has had a full upgrade this year as part of the new cycling/walking shared path, says Mr Hey, which will help night-time walkers in the settlement.

The chicks, left alone in their burrows from an early age, will not emerge until they are fully grown and their parents have departed on their summer migration. Photo: Bruce Stuart-Menteath.

Young Westland petrel/tāiko affected by fallout/ disorientation waiting to be relaunched by the Westland Petrel Conservation Trust. Photo: Bruce Stuart-Menteath.

Background to this switch-off

In 2019, Waka Kotahi replaced six streetlights in the Punakaiki village which had badly corroded steel poles and were at risk of blowing down. LED fittings were used on the replacement poles, as is standard practice for all streetlight replacements based on energy efficiency and ability to direct the light.

“Following the installation, concerns were raised by the Westland Petrel Conservation Trust,” says Mr Hey. “They pointed out that artificial lighting, and particularly LED lighting, may accentuate the difficulties for the petrels and the fledglings, and may cause more ‘fallout’ or disorientation than the original high-pressure sodium lights.

“We investigated possible solutions to protect the young birds including changing the bulbs and fitting hoods to the new LED lights. To date no suitable, proven solution with existing street-lights has been found.”

A Westland petrel/ tāiko preparing for take-off from the bush towards the Tasman Sea. Photo: Bruce Stuart-Menteath.

A fraction of the original numbers surviving

The Department of Conservation/ Te Papa Atawhai says that today’s breeding population of about 6,200 pairs is a remnant of what would have originally been many hundreds of thousands.

With only one breeding colony in the world, the survival of every fledgling to breeding age is needed for the survival of this species, says DOC.

The main threats the Westland petrel/ tāiko continues to face are incidental bycatch in commercial fishing, introduced mammal predators, illegal releases of feral pigs into the breeding colonies and climate change, which alters prey availability and increases the frequency of severe weather events, which has caused the loss of breeding burrows to landslides in recent years.

Apart from the benefits provided to the petrels by the light switch-off, local residents and visitors to the area will also have the opportunity to see the night sky more clearly during this period.

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