NZ Transport Agency Wellington Regional Office 

06 August 2009  

Spring heralds the start of earthwork on the Muldoons Corner Realignment

Spring will herald the start of major earthwork to realign State Highway 2’s Muldoons Corner near the summit of the Rimutaka Hill Road.

NZTA Regional Director Deborah Hume says the financial injection provided by the government’s Jobs and Growth plan has allowed preliminary work on the hill to start now, 30 months ahead of schedule with earthworks following at the end of this month.

“That’s a tremendous boost to the local economy and will be welcome news for truckies who are unable to pass each other when travelling in opposite directions over this near 1km section of highway,” Dr Hume says.

The $16.5 million upgrade will improve safety by easing a number of tight curves, including Muldoon’s Corner, will improve visibility, and provide better northbound edge protection from the valley.

Work is being programmed to consider traffic and environmental effects, such as the fish spawning season as work needs to be done to protect nearby streams.

“This is why earthworks aren’t being carried out now and won’t be carried out in areas affecting streams between the months of May and August,” Dr Hume says.

The project is expected to take up to three years to complete and has a target completion timeframe of mid 2012.

“This may seem like a long time to work on a short section of road, but progress may be slow at times due to weather impacts (ie snow in winter), the need to maintain traffic flow over the hill and the difficulty of cutting into the hillside and transporting this material to other locations on the worksite,” she says.

More detailed information will be made available to the public soon regarding traffic management and the timing of work affecting road users.

ENDS

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