New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) staff will work closely with the Whakatāne District Council to find ways of easing traffic congestion issues during a planned, three-month maintenance closure of the Pekatahi Bridge at Tāneatua.
An NZTA briefing on the re-decking of the bridge, provided at last week’s Council Projects and Services Committee meeting, indicated a planned start to the project before Christmas, with the closure extending through until mid-March 2017. The closure will require all SH2 traffic to be re-routed through Whakatāne via the Landing Road bridge, Hinemoa Street, Arawa Road and Tāneatua Road.
NZTA advises that up to 14,000 vehicles currently cross the Landing Road bridge each day, and closure of the Pekatahi Bridge will add an additional 2,000 vehicles a day, including approximately 400 heavy vehicles. With congestion at peak commute times already a significant issue at the Landing Road bridge, Council elected members and staff expressed concern about the potential impact of the project on traffic flows. Transportation Manager Martin Taylor said the additional vehicle volume will exacerbate the delays experienced by motorists exiting the State Highway into the urban area.
“The congestion at The Hub is the area of greatest concern, both from commuters’ and the Council’s perspective, but the increased heavy traffic flow also raises a number of issues which will need to be addressed,” he said.
NZTA Journey Manager Nigel D’Ath confirmed that the Agency would look into the traffic flow issues and work with the Council Transportation team to identify possible solutions.
Constructed in 1927, the Pekatahi road/rail bridge is a 370-metre long, one-way structure controlled by a traffic light system. The $5 million project will see the existing, deteriorating timber deck and railway lines removed and replaced by a new deck. The plans do not include widening the deck to two lanes, but Mr D’Ath indicated that if tender prices were favourable, they may be able to increase the bridge width from 3.4 to 3.9 metres, providing improved access for agricultural machinery. The new bridge deck will also be strong enough to be able to carry high productivity motor vehicles, allowing heavier truck and trailer units to serve the Ōpōtiki area. An improved traffic light system will also reduce delays, and the existing 30 km/hour speed limit on the bridge is likely to be raised.
The project will extend the bridge’s useful life through to 2035, when construction of a new, two-way structure is planned.