Delays Ahead: Road Repairs Gear Up In Mid Canterbury / SH1

Tuesday, 14 January 2025, 9:20 pm
Article: Jonathan Leask - Local Democracy Reporter

Road repairs are ongoing across Mid Canterbury with the project likely to cause the most disruption in March.

That’s when NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) will upgrade SH1 between the Ashburton Bridge and Dobson St and resurface from Dobson to Moore Streets.

NZTA central South Island system manager Mark Pinner said the work is currently scheduled to get underway in mid-March.

“These will be night works and done outside peak traffic times to minimise disruption for drivers as much as possible,” Pinner said.

“We are still finalising our plans, including traffic management and detour routes, however, details will be shared with the community when they are available.”

Ashburton District Council‘s infrastructure and open spaces group manager Neil McCann said the SH1 work has been discussed with NZTA as it will impact intersections.

He confirmed there would be no detours and traffic will be managed on SH1 during the NZTA project.
“We are also getting them to do surfacing work at Kermode Street for us as part of their work,” McCann said.

The SH1 work along the approach to the Ashburton Bridge is part of NZTA's plans to complete 10km of reconstruction and 68km of resurfacing of the State Highway network in Mid-South Canterbury over the summer.

The resealing of multiple sites of SH1 from Rakaia to Timaru will start from January 24 when drivers can expect Stop/Go during daytime hours and delays of up to 40 minutes through to the end of January.

The SH1 Rangitata Bridge will have bridge piling works causing daytime delays of up to 20 minutes and a closure over one night planned for March to cut old piles from the bridge.

The SH1 Hinds River Bridge will be resurfaced with up to three hour-long night closures scheduled for March 9-10.

Then it’s the Rangitata Bridge’s turn to undergo resurfacing, with night closures scheduled for March 11-14.

Just past the bridge, the SH1/SH79 intersection will have road resurfacing from January 25-30, managed with Stop/Go with an expected up to 30-minute delay.

Meanwhile, the Ashburton District Council is spending $2.4 million on 8.5km of new road as well as $8.2m on resurfacing and maintaining other sealed and unsealed roads.

McCann said contractors finished a lot of rehabilitation work before Christmas and fortunately the wet weather hasn’t halted progress.

A 1.2km section of Maronan Road, between Lills Road and Lovetts Road, is being reconstructed while work will start soon on a 1.4km section of Seafield Road, between Morris Road and the Ashburton Airport.

The $430,000 project is expected to take three months as it will be done in two stages and is scheduled to be completed in early April.

“This is an older sealed road, so the failed areas will be dug out and a new layer of basecourse placed to better cope with the volume and weight of traffic that uses it today,” McCann said.

The first stage will be between Morris Road and Milton Road, and the second stage from Milton Road to the airport, McCann said.

Maronan and Seafield roads are the last of the rehabilitation projects and just over half of the reseal programme has already been completed, McCann said.

The big reseal projects getting underway soon include 6.4 km on Hinds Arundel Rd and 4.3 km on Timaru Track Rd.

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