Work to complete the new slow vehicle bay on State Highway 2 (SH2) at Kotemaori in northern Hawke’s Bay will start next week.

The new 260 metre slow vehicle bay on SH2, near the intersection with Kakariki Farm Road, will provide another place for southbound road users to safely pass slow vehicles. 

Crews have been waiting for warmer weather to complete the work, which includes laying the final seal on the road.

The work is expected to take 2 weeks and crews will begin on site from next Monday (30 September). During this time, temporary traffic management will be in place through this site with stop/go and a temporary reduced speed limit of 30km/h. 

Delays of no more than 10 minutes are expected.

This work is part of Connecting Tairāwhiti, which is a programme of projects providing more slow vehicle bays and more places to pull off the road safely to check messages or take a break on State Highways 2 and 35 across the Tairāwhiti and northern Hawke’s Bay regions. The programme also includes some resilience projects to strengthen and stabilise sites on State Highway 35 to help it remain open and functional during disruptions such as weather events.

A slow vehicle bay is a widened stretch of road on an uphill incline that allows slow, heavy vehicles, such as trucks and buses, to pull over as they slow down – allowing other vehicles to pass.