Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency Bay of Plenty System Manager, Roger Brady, says the humble road cone plays a key role in guiding people safely through road works.

“We often hear comments about the number of cones people see on their travels along State Highway 2, so we wanted to give people and idea of why they are there,” says Mr Brady.

“As with everything we do, it comes back to safety.

“There are traffic management standards in place which determine the appropriate and safe spacing of cones. Under these standards we have three different levels of highway. Level one carries lower traffic volumes, such as SH2 north of Katikati, and can have further spacing between cones than the journey between Katikati and Tauranga, which is a level two highway,” says Mr Brady.

“However, for both consistency and to deliver an enhanced level of temporary traffic management, our safety improvements project treats SH2 north and south of Katikati the same. What you will see on your journey between Waihī and Tauranga when driving through work sites is road cones placed at 2.5 metre intervals where the road narrows to alert drivers a work site is ahead. In the work site itself, cones need to be placed at least every 10 metres.

“Not just any cone is approved to work on our roads. As well as needing to be orange on the outside, the inside and the base of cones must be either white or orange to ensure it is visible if knocked over. They must be at least 900mm high and weigh less than 7kg,” says Mr Brady.

“You will see fewer road cones on your SH2 journey as we head towards Christmas.

“Our teams are busy completing works for the year and by 23 December will have minimal temporary traffic management in place. Where the road is wide enough, the safety improvements project will install temporary steel safety barriers at work sites for additional safety during the busiest time of the year.”

To keep across travel times on your journeys, please visit the Waka Kotahi Journey Planner website: Journey Planner

This is what you can expect to see between Waihī and Tauranga this week:

Waihī to Ōmokoroa Safety Improvements Project (ongoing)

• Athenree Road to Tanners Point Road – road widening works continue throughout the week. Expect minor delays of one to two minutes.
• Tanners Point Road to Kauri Point Road – final watermain relocation connections and tidy up are underway. Expect minor delays of one to two minutes. 
• Rea Road / Tetley Road intersection – preparation works for a roundabout are ongoing. Expect minor delays of about five minutes particularly on the side roads.
• Lund Road to Aongatete Road – road widening, earthworks, drainage and service relocation works between Lund Road and Aongatete Road continue with a focus on the Wright Road intersection. Expect minor delays of one to two minutes.

Takitimu North Link preparation works 

• Wairoa Road (off SH2) – near Oliver Road, southbound shoulder closure in place, not anticipated to impact traffic.
• Harrison Road (off Cambridge Road) – shoulder closure in place while archaeological investigations take place. No delays anticipated.
• Cambridge/Moffat Road – shoulder closure in place while surveying works take place. No delays anticipated.
• Richard Way (off Cambridge Road) – now closed to the general public, authorised access only.
• Cambridge Road – Stop/Go for tree felling along this area near 310 Cambridge Road. Closures only in effect when necessary.

The single-lane roundabout will replace the current T-intersection. When completed in the second half of 2022, this project will help reduce the rising number of serious injury crashes at this busy intersection, says Mr French. The project is funded through the government’s $8.7 billion NZ Upgrade Programme.

The NZ Upgrade Programme projects are designed to improve safety and save lives at crash-prone intersections. Given the increasing popularity of Cromwell, the Government-funded roundabout will be built to enable it to increase to two lanes in each direction in line with traffic projections, in coming years.

Between 2010 and 2019, there have been 23 crashes at this intersection with one crash resulting in two people dying.

Construction preparation work, including relocating a watermain pipe, is getting underway this month, Mr French says, setting up the SH6/SH8B site ready for the New Year.

Background information on the roundabout at the intersection of SH6 and SH8B.

In October, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency awarded a $25 million construction contract for a new two-lane bridge to HEB Construction.

Taieri MP Ingrid Leary and Clutha District Mayor Bryan Cadogan gave speeches at the event, while local Ngāi Tahu representatives blessed the site and participated in the sod turning.  HEB representatives and around 60 people were present from the local community.

Spades at the ready: Left to right, Taieri MP Ingrid Leary, iwi representative Maureen Wylie, Clutha District Mayor Bryan Cadogan and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency Director Regional Relationships James Caygill at yesterday’s Beaumont Bridge project sod-turning. The existing old bridge is just visible to the right.

Mayor Cadogan applauded the commitment to the Clutha District from Waka Kotahi, with funding for the new bridge meeting modern seismic requirements and increasing the reliability of links to Central Otago, a key production and tourism area.

“Our council was pleased to have been a conduit for community feedback through the consents’ process on the location of the new bridge, and preserving the alignment of State Highway 8, which will continue to run in front of the Beaumont Hotel. Having such a key piece of infrastructure in place which is fit-for-purpose in the 21st century is a welcome development,” Mr Cadogan said.

James Caygill, Director Regional Relationships for Waka Kotahi said that since the contract was awarded, the HEB Construction team has been setting up on the new bridge site. “They are now ready to start building the new bridge in the New Year, scheduled to open in the second half of 2023,” he said.

“The 137-year-old existing single lane bridge is no longer suited to today’s higher traffic volumes, or the larger and heavier trucks reliant upon this key freight route through to Central Otago.”

The new bridge will meet the current and future needs of the businesses and communities who depend on this highway, and safely connect people, products and places, said Mr Caygill.

Taieri MP Ingrid Leary drew attention to the artwork which would feature on the bridge’s retaining wall, acknowledging the relationship of local iwi with this area of the river over many years. People would also be able to enjoy the newly landscaped safe stopping area on the bridge’s eastern side near the old bridge, she said.

• The new bridge will be 195 metres long, formed by curved steel girders, supported by four piers sitting about 12 metres above the average river level.
• Safety barriers will be fitted on the road approaches, with a two-metre wide walking and cycling pathway a feature of the bridge design.
• Project background 

The section of state highway between Linden and Mackays Crossing has been renumbered State Highway 59 as Waka Kotahi continues to prepare the wider state highway network for the opening of Transmission Gully.

“It’s not often that we get to change a state highway number, but it’s an important step towards getting ready for Transmission Gully. It will make it easier for people to navigate around the network, and for us to share accurate information in the event crashes or disruptions on the highways,” says Mark Owen, Waka Kotahi Regional Operations and Maintenance Manager.

This switch is being done before Transmission Gully motorway opens, so while the state highway number has changed, the current route remains the same. When Transmission Gully opens, it will become SH1. In the meantime, SH59 will create a small break in SH1 between Mackays Crossing and Linden.

Waka Kotahi has been working with map providers to update journey information, and with councils to update addresses and signage.

Due to the way journey time information is gathered, approximately 24 electronic signs along the route that display SH1 journey times need to be reset. People should expect these signs to remain blank for at least 48 hours while updated information is imported and checked..

Although the gradual replacement of signs is already underway, it may take several weeks for some of the larger signs to be replaced.

For more information follow the Waka Kotahi Wellington Facebook page or visit the Wellington Network Operational Readiness webpage: nzta.govt.nz/wnor

State highways are numbered according to which part of the country they are located. State highways within the Wellington, Manawatū and Hawke’s Bay regions are numbered between 50-59, with 59 being the next available number for the Wellington region.

View renumbering Wellington SH1 and SH59 maps