MEDIA RELEASE

TRANSIT NEW ZEALAND NATIONAL OFFICE

11 January 2007

SH1 Otaki resealing to begin next week

To keep the road in good condition Transit will begin resealing parts of SH1 between Otaki Bridge and Te Horo next week.

Transit Central Operations Manager Mark Owen says the resealing, which begins on Monday 14 January, is necessary to maintain the road’s surface texture and skid resistance for safety reasons.

“We carry out resealing like this to ensure the road remains in good shape. This is something we do annually to identified parts of our road network,” Mr Owen says.

Transit’s contractor Fulton Hogan will be resealing until Friday, 25 January (weather dependent). The work will be done between 9.00am and 4.00pm with no work carried out over the Wellington Anniversary Holiday Weekend.

“We want to ensure there is no disruption as a result of the resealing over the holiday weekend so we won’t be doing any work until Tuesday when everyone has returned,” Mr Owen says.

“We will also be closing the passing lanes on SH1, as we regularly do at other holiday weekends. Closing passing lanes helps increase capacity as it produces a steadier flow of single-lane traffic along the highway,” he says.

While the resealing is being done the state highway will be restricted to one lane in each direction. As the surface for this work is chip sealing, Fulton Hogan will take every care to make sure the chip is swept regularly to limit the spread of loose stones on the road.

Mr Owen says Transit is very aware of the impact that this type of work can have to motorists so extra attention has been paid to ensure that motorists and businesses are prepared for the start of this work. He urges road users to be patient and take special care when driving through the roadworks site.

“We understand how this affects people and ask for everyone’s patience and understanding while we keep the state highway in good shape.”

ENDS

Visit us at www.transit govt.nz

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