Popular walkway to soon reopen

Timaru’s popular Saltwater Creek walkway is expected to reopen in February, more than two years after parts of it were closed to the public.

The closure at the south entrance to the walkway in November 2018 was because of leaching problems and higher than normal methane gas and carbon dioxide levels emanating from the landfill the walkway runs alongside.

However, a council spokesman confirmed yesterday it was likely the loop section would open next month.

‘‘Contractors are just finishing the work on the adjacent landfill cells then connecting it to the gas management system for the site.

‘‘The path itself is fine, albeit in need of a bit of tidying up prior to reopening,’’ the spokesman said.

‘‘It’s all work that has to be undertaken as part of landfill cell completion. From a safety perspective we have to ensure that it’s done properly prior to the path reopening.’’

He said the council’s parks contractors would visit the site over the next few weeks to get the path back up to standard.

‘‘At this point we’re looking at reopening the path in early to mid-February.’’

Timaru man Tim Atkinson, a regular user of the track on foot and bicycle, said the announcement was fantastic news.

‘‘It’s a crucial part of the walkway system in Timaru, and it’s particularly important given we have lost parts of our walkway system near the railway tracks due to erosion,’’ Atkinson said.

‘‘It’s surprising that it’s taken this long, although I appreciate that Covid-19 and then a long winter might have had something to do with the delays.’’

The council spokesman said while the section had been closed in November 2018, the council had ‘‘been progressively opening bits of it as we’ve been able to, so the closed area is now smaller than the initial closure’’.

‘‘The time is to allow for the completion of filling of the landfill cell before it was capped and connected to the gas management system, which then in turn solved the problem on the path.’’

The Timaru Herald asked for a breakdown of costs associated with the repair of the walkway but the council spokesman said ‘‘the majority would be standard landfill end of cell operational cost’’.

‘‘The actual work to reopen the path is relatively small.’’

JOHN BISSET/STUFF The Saltwater Creek walkway has been closed for more than two years because of leaching and gas issues caused by adjacent landfill.

The Saltwater Creek walkway was closed in November 2018.