End of Port Road to close temporarily for bridge roundabout construction

The Cobham Oval end of Port Road will be closed for about three months, but the northern end will remain open while major work is completed on Whangarei’s Lower Hatea River Crossing.

The closure will enable work to proceed rapidly, raising the level of the road to form a new roundabout at the Port Road end of the new lifting bridge.

Chairman of Council’s Infrastructure and Services Committee Greg Martin said construction work on the crossing has progressed well during the past 7 months

“There is a fixed budget for this project so we need to make sure we closely watch the costs and seek to do things as efficiently as possible,” he said.

“We looked at a number of ways to get this part of the job done without closing the road, but they all added extra costs and time to the project. Closing the road will speed up the process, keep everyone safer and reduce costs.”

Cr Martin said Port Road would be closed from Alter-Natives to the intersection of Port Rd and Okara Drive, a length of 250m, between Monday 13 August and Friday 16 November 2012, but it would be reopened earlier if the work was completed ahead of time.

Access to all Port Rd businesses and properties will be from the northern/city end of Port Rd only.

“In a bid do minimise the impact on businesses at that end of the road the changes will be advertised on illuminated sign boards during the week leading up to the closure,” said Cr Martin.

“Signs for the businesses impacted will be installed at the Okara end of Port Rd directing the public to the northern/city access, and we will be advertising the change on air.”

ENDS

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