“Visible cracks appeared on this section of SH3 between 2019 and 2020, which we were closely monitoring,” says NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi Regional Manager of Infrastructure Delivery for Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Jo Wilton.

“The cracks grew, and following an assessment, the cause was identified as a broken culvert and underslip.

“To fix this, we’re constructing a 50m long retaining wall and a new 825mm diameter culvert will be installed to keep the road stable and resilient,” Ms Wilton says.

The contractor will undertake establishing works on site this week.

While work gets underway, traffic will be down to one lane under stop/go traffic management while the highway is temporarily widened on the southbound shoulder.

Drivers should expect short delays at this site.

After the road is widened, it will be reopened to two lanes under speed restrictions for up to 3 months while the retaining wall and culvert are being built, with a few days of stop/go expected at the end of the project.

NZTA thanks people for their patience while this essential work is completed.

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This updates the traffic bulletin below.

26 February

Works ahead on SH31 Kāwhia Road will require day-time closures – with the first one happening on Tuesday 5 March.

Old seal needs to be dug out on a site west of the Kāwhia lookout on Tuesday. The road will be closed from 8am-5pm but will reopen for an hour at single lane between 12 noon and 1pm.

This job is weather-dependant and the contingency day is 12 March.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi says the road will be open for residents up to the work site but not through.

Access in and out of Kāwhia during the closure will be via SH39 to Ngutunui Rd, Pekanui Road, Okupata Road to Oparau and back on to SH31. This is a collection of local roads with some unsealed stretches and takes about 10 minutes longer than SH31.

The work site can be cleared to allow emergency vehicles through.

Following the dig-out on Tuesday, the resealing works will be completed under stop/go traffic management.

A bigger job is ahead in April which will require about three weeks of day-time closures. This is to fix an underslip which has developed adjoining where work was done last year.

More details including dates for these closures will be provided in the next few weeks.

Later this year, work will also be required to fix an additional underslip nearer Kawhia Harbour Road, which is currently under single lane.

NZTA thanks people for their patience while we undertake these important repairs.

A stop/go lane closure will be set up from 7pm tonight (26 February), with work commencing at 8:30pm. This is expected to take approximately 4 hours.

This critical work will reinstate approximately 1km of median rope wire which was struck on Saturday morning. Due to the location and length of the strike, the entire barrier must be reinstated, along with the installation of new posts along the damaged section.

Flexible median safety barriers were put in place along this stretch of road due to its poor safety record. This strike shows how important these safety interventions are at helping to prevent a head-on crash.

NZTA is also reminding motorists that SH1 Brynderwyn Hills is now closed while critical restoration work is completed.

Three scenic detour options are available during the closure:

• Cove Road route, suggested for lighter vehicles, adding about 20 minutes to their journey.
• Paparoa to Oakleigh route, a deviation to the west from Brynderwyn Hills via just south of Whangārei, can be used by trucks and trucks with trailers up to 50 tonnes.
• State Highways 12 and 14 through Dargaville and on to Whangārei can be used by all vehicles but must be used by high productivity motor vehicles (HPMV).

SH1 Brynderwyn Hills will open at 11:59pm Wednesday 27 March, for six days over the Easter period from 12:01am 28 March to 11:59pm 2 April.

The road will then close again at 12:01am on Wednesday 3 April until 11:59pm Sunday 12 May to complete the remaining work that requires a full closure. Work will be done as quickly as possible.

NZTA thanks motorists in advance as we carry out this ongoing work.

Tatapouri Beach north of Gisborne is popular with locals and tourists and part of the safety work will include a new right-turn bay for people to better access the beach from the highway.

Other work will include shoulder widening, new signage, resurfacing and line marking.

Crews will begin work at the site on Monday 4 March. The work is scheduled to take 5 weeks to complete.

To minimise the delays, crews will be working 7 days a week, between 6am and 7pm.

During construction, there will be a mix of traffic management in place:

• Works will start with a week of enabling works. There will be two lanes of traffic, as per normal, however a reduced speed limit will be in place around the clock.
• For the following 3 weeks, stop/go traffic management will be in place through the worksite, with a reduced speed limit in place. When the worksite isn’t active, two lanes of traffic will be open.
• In the final week of work, there will once again be two lanes of traffic, but at the same reduced speed. During this week, there’ll be one day of stop/go traffic management for line marking. 

In December, a rock retaining wall was built slightly further south at the top of Tatapouri Hill.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi Regional Manager of Infrastructure Delivery Rob Partridge says currently waiting on the highway to turn right to access local businesses or the beach carpark, is dangerous.

“Given the beach access is just around the bend, after coming downhill, waiting in the lane can be a safety issue.

“We know the value of this area and the beach access to the people of Tairāwhiti and to tourists. Making it safer to visit and enjoy the area is incredibly important,” says Mr Partridge.

Instead stop/go traffic management at night will be in place from Sunday 3 to Monday 11 March from 6pm to 5am, while contractors re-align the road to meet the new roundabout.

In addition, next week’s planned daytime closure of the Awatoto Road intersection with SH51 will now go ahead from 11 March to 20 March. The road will be open as per normal this week.

Instead the intersection will be closed between 8am and 4pm daily from Monday 11 March til Wednesday 20 March.

During this closure period, access will remain for north and southbound traffic on the state highway.

During the closure, crews will be constructing the extension of Awatoto Road, which will connect with the new roundabout, while also finishing asphalting.

Signposted detours, through Te Awa Avenue and Waitangi Road will be in place during the daytime closures, for all road users travelling between Napier, Hastings and Taradale. These detours will add approximately 5 minutes to people’s journeys.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi Principal Project Manager Jacob Laird says softer than anticipated aggregate has been discovered in the area where the road will be realigned to meet the roundabout.

He says the delays are unfortunate but it’s important the work is done now to ensure that material is removed and replaced with much firmer soil to future proof the road.

Mr Laird says the project remains ahead of schedule.

North and southbound state highway traffic will be using the new roundabout and realigned roads from the morning of 11 March while the new Awatoto Road extension is expected to be opened just over a week later.