Lower Queen Street in Richmond will remain open during the major construction project for a new bridge near the intersection of Headingly Lane. 

The bridge is required to provide additional channel capacity for Borck Creek to cater for future stormwater flows.In February, Tasman District Council Elected Members discussed two options for traffic management during the construction. 

The first option was for the construction of a temporary bypass road around the construction site, while the second option was for a total closure of that section of Lower Queen Street for the full duration of the bridge construction.

A Traffic Impact Assessment and an Economic Impact Assessment report were completed to assist with decision making on the ‘full closure’ or ‘bypass’ options, which showed unfavourable outcomes of a full closure. 

The views of residents, businesses and commuters were canvased in a special poll with overwhelming support of the temporary bypass of close to 75% of respondents. Even though a decision to build the temporary bypass has been made, there will still be a need to close the road two or three short times during the construction project. 

Work on the new bypass road is expected to begin within the next two months, followed by the start of bridge construction which will take up to 14 months.

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