Media Release

22 January 2013

Summer roadworks progressing - more to come.

Engineers working on Riverside Drive want to thank the public for their patience and safety consciousness when passing through the narrow worksite over the past few weeks, and want to give a heads up about more work in the area over the next few months.

"This month we have been making the most of the long fine days to put in stormwater pipes associated with the roundabout that will be built at the intersection of Riverside Drive and the road that leads up to the new bridge," said Infrastructure and Services Manager Simon Weston.

"This has caused some traffic queues in the evenings and mornings. With more people returning to work and children going back to school in coming weeks there will be more traffic on the road, which is likely to increase queues and delays some days.

"We advise people to bear this in mind and plan ahead. Some drivers may be able to alter their usual travel time to miss the worst of the peak traffic, or may wish to allow more travel time to accommodate delays.

"If the weather holds, we should be able to complete the Riverside Drive roundabout by the end of May.

"Over the next few weeks we will begin to remove the pre-loading that has been mounded up on the site of the new roundabout beside Riverside Drive. Now that the earth has settled and compacted we need to remove it before we can start constructing the new roundabout. That will mean closing the shoulder from time to time to carry out the work safely."

Mr Weston said work was progressing well on the roadworks associated with the new bridge.

"The Port Road roundabout at the end of the bridge is completed, and we plan to seal the roundabout on the corner of Port Road and Okara Drive next week. Large components of the bridge arrived in port today, and work is going well."

The bridge is due to open in July.
ends

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