Two busy New Plymouth intersections will have road closures to allow works to improve safety and traffic flows to be carried out by NPDC.

The works at the Devon Street West/Morley Street and Huatoki Street/Carrington Road intersections will begin in early April.

NPDC Major Projects and Planning Delivery Manager Andrew Barron urges road users to take care and follow any detours in place.

“At Morley Street, the intersection will be open during daytime hours but will be closed overnight, from 7pm-6am, from Sundays to Thursdays for four weeks,” he says.

“Doing it this way means we’ll cut the works period in half.

“Meanwhile, we’re closing Huatoki Street at the intersection 24/7 for the first two weeks, then opening the lane that exits onto Carrington Street for the last two weeks of the project. Traffic on Carrington Street won’t be affected by the works.”

The Devon/Morley project starts on Sunday 6 April and includes:

• Changing the light-phasing to give priority to traffic turning right from Devon Street West onto Morley and Powderham streets and left from Morley onto Devon Street West heading west (SH45). The traffic lights will also include a cycle phase.
• Replacing the underground cabling for the traffic lights.
• Connecting the cycle lane across the intersection to a small section of Devon Street on the eastern side of the intersection.
• Removing the right-turn from Devon Street West onto Morley Street heading north.

In a survey in August 2023, the public chose to retain on-street car parks rather than the right-turn heading north onto Morley. The change creates enough room for the section of cycle lane to be built.

When the new lights phasing goes live, NPDC will monitor traffic flows and make any tweaks required.

Meanwhile, the Huatoki/Carrington closure starts on Monday 7 April. The improvements will result in room being made for left and right turning cars to sit side-by-side as they wait to exit onto Carrington Street, which should reduce traffic build-up at peak times.

In addition, pedestrian safety will be improved by extending the raised platform and building a pedestrian refuge island between the traffic lanes.

Fast facts:

• NPDC manages more than 1,300km of urban and rural roads.
• In 2024/25, we have a $26.3m budget for looking after our road network.

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