Major works on the main western entrance to the district are underway, bringing road closures, detours and interruptions to normal travel as we undertake pavement rehabilitation on three sites within the Rangitāiki Plains area during the 2024/25 construction season.

Road pavement (underlying road structure) reconstruction works.

‘Pavement rehabilitation’ means rebuilding the existing road surface and underlying road structure (pavement). The pavement is removed and replaced with new materials. Sometimes the old material is able to be recycled. 

These road works will occur on three sites within the Rangitāiki Plains area. 

Work has initially focussed on a section of Thornton Road (between the intersection of West Bank / Thornton Beach Road and Greig Road), and is scheduled to be completed by this Saturday 9 November. From Monday, 11 November work will begin on a section of West Bank Road ‘North’ (between Thornton Road and Greig Road), and following this, after the Christmas break, work will commence on West Bank Road 'South' (between Gow Road and property number 504 West Bank Road).
 

• Thornton Road (between the intersection of West Bank / Thornton Beach Road and Greig Road) will be open to residents and businesses within the work site only from Monday 14 Oct 2024 – Saturday 9 Nov 2024. The work site is between property numbers 880-954 Thornton Road. This section of road will be CLOSED to all other traffic during this time. Please note, property number 954 Thornton Road and above will need to head west and use Greig Road to access Whakatāne. 

The road re-opens this Sunday morning, November 10, 2024.

• West Bank ‘North’ (between Thornton Road and Greig Road) will be open to residents and businesses within the work site only from Monday, 11 Nov 2024 – 13 Dec 2024 (weather permitting). The work site is from the Thornton Road intersection up to 98 West Bank Road. This section of road will be CLOSED to all other traffic during this time. 

• West Bank ‘South’ (between Gow Road and property number 504 West Bank Road) will be open to residents and businesses within the work site only from Mid-Jan 2025 – March 2025. This section of road will be CLOSED to all other traffic during this time (we will advise on confirmed dates in near future).

All dates are weather permitting.

Roads deteriorate over time and the existing pavement (underlying road structure) at all three sites has reached the end of its life and is in poor condition with significant cracking and defects. These incur high maintenance costs. These works will also improve the overall standard and safety of the Whakatāne District roading network, while reducing the burden of on-going costs associated with maintenance work in these areas.

Property / landowners near the worksites may experience dust issues and temporary access disruption. However, all residential and / or commercial traffic, rubbish / recycling collection, and mail / courier deliveries will have access when safe to do so. A Waiotahi Contractors team member will assist with access in/out of the work site. Access on the closed roads will also be maintained for emergencies and school buses.

All rubbish / recycling collection within the work site / closed portions of road will be picked up. However, please put your bin out at the earlier time of 7:30am. 

Completing these works under road closures, as opposed to stop/go, or temporary traffic lights, will reduce the use of resources and reduce construction time, while ensuring a safer working environment for contractors and staff. It’s estimated this will achieve an overall cost saving of between 10%-15%, and a time saving of up to 20%. This means the temporary impacts of this work will be much less than if the road remained open. 

Major closures will occur on both Thornton Road and West Bank Road, with detours in place to ensure safety and efficiency. The wider community, commuters and visitors will be required to take an alternative routes via the state highway network. These detours (see 'detours' FAQ) will add time to usual travel times and will lead to additional traffic making use of SH2 between Matatā and Awakeri, as well as SH30 between Awakeri and Whakatāne. Electronic visual messaging signs are in place at key areas alerting road users to these detours.

• Motorists travelling along Thornton Road, going in a westerly direction, are to turn off at East Bank Road and travel to SH2, then Edgecumbe, making their way to their planned destination.
• Motorists travelling along Thornton Road, going in an easterly direction, are to turn off at Greig Road (under a reduced speed limit) and travel to West Bank Road, then Edgecumbe, making their way to their planned destination.
• Motorists travelling from Whakatāne to Tauranga are to make use of SH30 and SH2.
• Motorists travelling from Tauranga to Whakatāne are to make use of SH2 and SH30.

These detours will lead to additional traffic making use of the state highway network and there may be time added to your usual travel time.

East Bank Road will remain open for access to Edgecumbe and SH2. 

These works are being undertaken as part of our road maintenance programme to keep our roads free of potholes and other defects. While we are aware of safety concerns at the East Bank Road / Thornton Road intersection, any safety improvements would be part of a separate funding stream and prioritisation process and need to be planned and budgeted through Council and Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency. Funding for safety improvements have been de-prioritised by central government however Council staff are looking at short-term, low-cost safety improvements that can be implemented within Councils limited budgets.

The works are approved under the current LTP budget.  

We encourage you to keep an eye on this webpage and our Facebook and Instagram pages for regular updates. Directly affected residents will continue to recieve letters as the project progresses. Should you have any queries, or would like to be included on regular updates email database for this project, please email roading@whakatane.govt.nz