A “disruptive” rebuild of a cracked section of State Highway 2 in Carterton is scheduled for this May.
It means residents who live on the highway between Hilton Rd and Portland Rd will go about five days without vehicle access to their properties.
Parking along SH2 would also not be an option in the area, while southbound traffic would need to take a five minute detour during the rebuild work.
Carterton councillors were briefed on the upcoming road rebuild at a workshop on Wednesday.
NZTA director of regional relationships Emma Speight said the works couldn’t be done without causing disruptions.
“Unfortunately, one of the absolutes of this is that it will be disruptive.”
Wellington Transport Alliance projects portfolio lead Kieran Head said the works were scheduled to start on May 11 and would take about two weeks to complete, weather permitting.
The current condition of the road was very poor, he told councillors.
“It has some significant cracking and rutting, and the plan is to get it back up to a nice smoother road for the residents.
“This will be highly disruptive but our plan is to get in and out as quickly as possible.”
He said finer details were still being worked through around vehicle access for residents.
“We’re trying to find a way to give them access as much as possible but there will be a few days there where they will not be able to get vehicle access.
“Pedestrian access will always be accessible.”
Northbound traffic would be able to travel through SH2 at all times, but with a reduced speed near the work site.
Southbound traffic would be detoured down Moreton Rd to Para Rd and out Waihakeke Rd, adding five minutes to travel time.
The road rebuild was being done in this section of SH2 because Wairarapa’s ground conditions were soft and caused the road to deteriorate quickly, Head said.
“With this road rebuild, we excavate 305mm deep and rebuild three layers to protect the road from the ground conditions.”
The road base was designed to last 25 years, and the road surface was designed to last 10-12 years.
Carterton District Council’s infrastructure manager Johannes Ferreira asked Head and Speight to ensure emergency services knew they would not need to use the detour.
Head confirmed they would stop work for any emergency and “get them through”.
The concern was raised after emergency service volunteers were detoured almost 10km last year while work were being done at the north end of Carterton.
Drainage works would need to be completed before the rebuild began.
This would run concurrently with the Greytown road rebuild and would have a “minimal impact on residents”, Head said.
Speight said the road rebuild would be “disruptive”, with work happening during the day and night, but this was the best way to ensure the length of disruption to residents was minimal.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
