Road closures loom as intersection nears completion

5 November 2012

Commuters who use the River Road-Wairere Drive intersection are strongly urged to avoid the junction from 12 November with three days of road closures scheduled.

The intersection is being transformed from a roundabout as part of the Hamilton Ring Road project, and with this phase of the project at a crucial point Hamilton City Council’s construction contractor Downer must close River Road to complete vital road surfacing work.

Council’s City Development Manager Andrew Parsons says with work on pedestrian underpasses and footpaths nearly completed, the construction focus shifts to the road itself.

“Because of the constrained nature of the site and the vast amount of work going in, we have no choice but to close River Road at various times, in both directions, over three days,” Mr Parsons says.

“We realise this will inconvenience motorists, and we apologise for that, but it’s an essential part of this work and we need to get it done.”

Weather permitting, closures will be:
• 12 November: River Road north, from the intersection to Flagstaff shops.
• 13 November: No turns from Wairere Drive onto River Road, and no right turns from River Road onto Wairere Drive
• 14 November: River Road south closed from the intersection to Harrowfield Drive.

A series of staggered closures will be in effect from 7am to 9pm, at the latest. Traffic will still be able to travel on Wairere Drive during the closures.

“We remain on-track for completion of this intersection before Christmas. We appreciate the public’s patience while we do this work.”

Other work in the area over the coming weeks includes final sealing of Wairere Drive from the Pukete Rd intersection to the Pukete Bridge, and installation of the new traffic signals at the Wairere Drive-River Road intersection.

“That final layer of seal on this section of Wairere Drive will result in a noticeable reduction in road noise.”

Mr Parsons urged commuters to use alternative routes, carpool, stagger journey times and work from home if they could while the work continued.

Regular updates on work on the Hamilton Ring Road can be found on www.facebook.com/HamiltonRingRoad

ENDS

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