22 February 2007

Dowse Interchange construction to come to life with bridge beam placement

The Dowse Interchange construction over SH2 will really start to come to life this weekend as the Dowse to Petone Upgrade team begins placing bridge beams over the railway line.

Transit says motorists and cyclists are being urged to take care when driving southbound through the project site on Saturday and Sunday (February 23-24) as the two sets of road users will need to merge together while this work is carried out. This is due to the fact that the southbound road shoulder will be closed on both days to facilitate the installation of the 18 bridge beams.

Transit says there will be a 50km/h speed restriction put in place at the site as well as some short-term stoppages of the traffic while the bridge beams are brought to the Interchange site and manoeuvred into position over the Hutt railway line. This requires the project team to swing the bridge beams over the road shoulder where cyclists normally ride.

Delays will be kept to a minimum as much as possible with staff monitoring the traffic during this work.

Road users are advised that they may use an alternative route by turning off the state highway at the Melling intersection and travelling through local streets to reconnect with the highway at either Korokoro or Petone.

Transit says the new interchange, the main structure in the more than $60 million upgrade of SH2 between the Petone and Normandale overbridges, has slowly been taking shape over the past few weeks. Road users have started to notice the structure emerging from the ground, but this weekend marks a major step forward in the project.

Road users are also further reminded that there is an overnight closure of SH2 between Petone overbridge and Korokoro while work to conclude the pedestrian footbridge across the highway to the Petone station is carried out. A diversion through Petone will be available and signposted at this time.

Transit thanks the public for their patience while we improve their journeys.

ENDS

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