Detours for motorists return as roundabouts closed for finishing work
DRIVERS on State Highway 8B at Cromwell will need to detour again from Monday when roads around two new roundabouts will close to traffic for several months.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency principal project manager Brendon French said the roundabout routes were opened in early June as a temporary measure but needed to close for further work to be completed.
The roundabouts are at the SH8B/SH6 intersection and the Barry Ave/SH8 intersection. The Barry Ave roundabout is funded by the Wooing Tree subdivision developer, and the SH8B/SH6 intersection is governmentfunded through the NZ Upgrade Programme safety project, managed by Waka Kotahi.
‘‘We wanted to give people plenty of notice that the roundabout routes are closing for a few months until they can be opened permanently before Christmas,’’ Mr French said.
‘‘Most people appreciated the opportunity for an early test drive of the new roundabouts ahead of their official opening in December.
‘‘We could only do this because winter temperatures were too cold to successfully apply a permanent topcoat seal to both roundabouts. In the meantime, crews have been preparing the area for landscaping and building footpaths.’’
The detour would remain until late November and was approved for all heavy vehicles.
Work to complete the two roundabout routes includes landscaping, permanent sealing of both roundabouts, roadworks linking the two and building a cycle and pedestrian underpass near the Barry Ave/SH8 intersection roundabout.
From midSeptember, a road closure will be in place on SH8B between Sargood Rd and the Wooing Tree roundabout for the underpass work.