Work has now been confirmed to begin next month on the rebuild and reseal of a stretch of State Highway 3 at Burgess Park just south of New Plymouth. The work is scheduled to begin on Monday 16 September and is expected to run for approximately 8 weeks.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) Regional Manager of Maintenance and Operations Rua Pani says the start of the season has come sooner than expected for Taranaki.

“We know Taranaki has a busy summer of events coming up and we’ve scheduled these works now, to minimise disruption ahead of the summer.

“The work will see this stretch of road completely rebuilt and resealed with foamed bitumen stabilisation in the road layers which provides a durable construction and allows faster installation over other stabilisation methods.” 

Due to safety requirements, and the width of the machinery required to complete the work, the road is too narrow to safely operate contraflow (two-way traffic) in the passing lane area. Stop/go traffic controls during the day is not possible here due to high traffic volumes, which would result in significant delays and an unsafe build-up of traffic queues.

“We know this road has high traffic volumes travelling northbound towards New Plymouth in the morning, and southbound away from New Plymouth in the afternoon/evenings, so we're opting to switch the direction of the single lane closure at midday and midnight to accommodate those peak traffic flows and minimise disruption for commuter traffic, freight and public transport.”

During the work, SH3 between Mangorei and Kent Roads will be CLOSED: To southbound traffic between midnight and midday every day. To northbound traffic between midday and midnight every day.

Meanwhile, NZ Transport Agency is finalising preparations ahead of a spring start to safety improvement works at the SH3 intersections with Mangorei Rd and Junction Street.

At Mangorei Rd, a roundabout will be constructed, while at Junction St an intersection speed zone will be installed. When traffic is approaching SH3 from Junction St or turning right into Junction St from the highway, digital signs either side of the intersection will display a temporary SH3 speed limit of 60kmh.

Traffic management measures during these works have yet to be confirmed but NZTA and its contractor will aim to minimise impacts to road users. 

The coming maintenance season will be a busy one for our crews around Taranaki and will focus on the resilience of our state highways, ensuring travel is as safe and efficient for all road users.