Underground power extends on O¯ mokoroa Rd in urban upgrade

The undergrounding of power on O¯ mokoroa Rd is to be extended.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council says the work will be undertaken by Northpower Limited and involve full undergrounding of power lines from the Western Ave Reserve through to the Omokoroa Country Estate boundary, as part of Stage 1 of the O¯ mokoroa Rd urbanisation project.

Work is expected to occur in the next few months, as part of the enabling works involving stormwater connections, footpath and cycleway, kerbing and channelling on O¯ mokoroa Rd.

The undergrounding of this section of the power lines will cost a total of $215,000, with the Country Estate separately paying approximately $55,000 to underground part of their frontage from Anderley Ave.

Powerco is also investing $113,600 towards this project.

Western Bay Mayor Garry Webber is pleased with the outcome of the negotiations, which has resulted in a significantly reduced cost to ratepayers.

“Initial cost estimates for the work were around the $700,000 mark — which we thought was fairly high.

“We asked the team to go back to the drawing board and after some thorough negotiations, we have managed to save approximately $316,000 for ratepayers.

“This is a direct result of our team working hard for ratepayers, and I’m sure the O¯ mokoroa community will be happy with this outcome.”

The cost for these works is being accommodated within the O¯ mokoroa Rd urbanisation project budget of $8.2 million, which comprises of funding from Council ($2.63m) and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency ($3.87m), as well as Government funding of $1.7m — as part of Central Government’s stimulus package.

Webber says Council looks forward to working with Northpower on this important part of the O¯ mokoroa Rd urbanisation project.

“There will continue to be some disruption to traffic flows over the duration of the project, but as always, our teams and contractors will work to keep impacts to a minimum, wherever possible, and we are grateful to the community for their patience,” says the mayor.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The urbanisation of O¯ mokoroa Rd includes upgrading 1.3km of

O¯ mokoroa Rd from Western Ave to Tralee St to an urbanised standard complete with kerbing, footpath/ cycle path, lighting, drainage, utility services and landscaping.

It includes a roundabout at Tralee St and at McKenna Lane, plus improved entrances to the Fresh Choice supermarket and the commercial shopping area.