With the arrival of warmer weather, after the snow, gales and flooding of the past week or so, comes the beginning of the road work season on Southland state highways. These works, by Highways South, on behalf of Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, include road reconstructions, asphalting and resealing and will run through summer until autumn 2021.

Justin Reid, Maintenance Contract Manager for Waka Kotahi in Southland, says that the renewal programme improves the texture in roads and corrects surfacing issues which can be challenging for road users, to make them safer.

“Warmer temperatures and drier days allow the renewals work on the highways to be successful, and longer days with good light allow our hard-working crews to complete this work in a shorter time-frame.”

What is up first?

The entrance to Sinclair Transport, south of Dejoux Road in Winton and Waipahi Highway at McDonald Road are the first priorities for this season, due to the deterioration of the road pavement there, says Mr Reid.

“We were due to apply hot chip as a trial to improve skid resistance in March this year, which we anticipated would improve the road surfaces until they could be reconstructed later in the year. Unfortunately, with the arrival of Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown, this did not happen, so these two sites will begin reconstruction next month - November.”

West of Mossburn, other places and driving advice for road work sites

Three sites on SH94 (west of Mossburn) are programmed for rehabilitation in the coming season through to March 2021 and a number of other sites in Southland will also be resurfaced to improve people’s journeys.

“We encourage people to be patient on our roads during this time and stick to the posted speed limits to ensure both the safety of the crews working and everyone on the highway. Even when it appears that no work is happening, we ask you to keep your speed to the temporary limit, ensuring the works do not get needlessly damaged. The goal of these works is safer and smoother journeys on our highways,” says Mr Reid.

How we can help you

Highways South acknowledge that this work will cause some disruption for road users and appreciates everyone’s patience. If there are concerns or questions around these works, people can call 03 211 1561 to speak with the Highways South team, or sign up for email updates on interruptions on Southland highways via our Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/HighwaysSouthNZ

© Scoop Media