LATEST UPDATES

Waiari Water Supply Scheme Update

The following information has been communicated to NZKGI from the Tauranga City Council.

Intake and Access Road Construction Update

• Stream works are on hold over the winter period
• Ground improvement and mechanical stabilised wall continues
• Kiwifruit in the area has been picked
• Stream running clear and looking ice blue

Reservoir to reservoir Pipeline:

• Excavation, laying of pipe and backfilling will continue down Welcome Bay Road.
• 24hr traffic lights in place due to open trenches making it unsafe to not operate one way traffic.
• Excavation, laying of pipe and backfilling continue along Te Puke Highway
• Drilling operation along Te Puke Highway near round about on hold

Traffic Management Update

First and foremost, we understand that construction work is impacting on your journey into town and getting around. We apologise for this and welcome any feedback and updates to help manage better the traffic better. Besides that:

• Please keep in mind that our traffic management team are just doing their job, and inconsiderate driving puts their lives at risk.
• At this stage no further road closures are planned until Spring 2019

Welcome Bay Road

• Traffic Control have worked hard to have no more than 20-25 vehicles for east bound traffic along Welcome Bay Road, there is generally minimal to no delay  for west bound traffic
• Unfortunately we need to give the west bound traffic or traffic exiting the Te Puke Highway  priority due to prevent traffic tailback onto the roundabout, causing further delays on that arterial road
• We have switched to manual traffic management instead of timed lights at peak traffic times and working hours on weekdays to ease congestion and delays as best we can
• Once construction moves further away from the roundabout, we are confident that wait times will improve for the peak flows
• The lights are timed for 20 seconds Green, 2 seconds Orange, 40 seconds Red (to allow all traffic to clear)
• We estimate it’s unlikely that you’ll need to wait for longer than 1 min 40 during non-working hours at the traffic lights.
• During working hours it’s manually controlled and could be longer or shorter depending on operations within the works area. For example if sections of pipeline are being delivered with heavy machinery or a truck is entering the site and needs to manoeuvre

Te Puke Highway

• Construction at Te Puke highway is moving beyond Poplar Lane this week
• Speed reduction will now apply to larger, 300m sections
• Both lanes of traffic are open, except for short spells when trucks need to access the site
• Slower speed is for the safety of construction team

Waiāri Water Supply Scheme

 If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact us.

• We’ll update you regularly on the progress of the works. If there is anyone else you think should be included in these updates, please let us know Jennifer.pearson@tauranga.govt.nz, so we can keep them updated via email or phone 07 577 7000.

You can also find more information at www.tauranga.govt.nz/Waiāri