The Douglas Street bridge over the Wainui Te Whara Stream is to be closed to all vehicles for up to seven weeks to allow the installation of a large culvert. Traffic diversions will be in place for the duration of the project, but the installation of a temporary footbridge means the road will remain open to pedestrians, cyclists and mobility scooter users.

Subject to the issuing of a resource consent, work on the 6-metre by 2.8-metre culvert is expected to begin on Monday, 25 January, with the closure anticipated to extend through until 18 March.

Whakatāne District Council Infrastructure General Manager Tomasz Krawczyk says the culvert replacement is part of a major, $2.4 million flood protection project designed to increase the capacity of the stream channel by about 60 percent, significantly reducing the risk of the stream ‘overtopping’ and flooding the adjacent urban area during extreme weather events.

 “The first phase of the project will be completed by June and will involve the installation of larger culverts under Douglas Street and King Street and the construction of sheet-piling walls along a 140-metre section of the stream starting a short distance downstream from the Valley Road bridge,” Mr Krawczyk explains. “Once that work has been completed, we will deepen and re-grade the channel so that it can carry a flood flow of at least 32 cubic metres a second.”

He says the culvert replacements and sheet-piling work will be carried out by Waiotahi Contractors, at a total cost of $1.47 million. Work on the King Street culvert will start as soon as the Douglas Street culvert has been completed. The sheet-piling installation will be undertaken by a separate work crew, starting in early February. Five privately-owned bridges across the stream will also be replaced under a separate contract and again, that work is expected to be completed by June.

“Douglas Street and King Street are both major arterial routes between the southern part of the township and the CBD, so this work will create some inconvenience for motorists. However, we will have clearly marked detours in place and the overall impact on travel distance and time should be relatively minor.”

The initial stage of the project will require the closure of the section of Douglas Street between Salonika Street and Alexander Avenue to through-traffic. Access will be available to residents throughout the construction period.