Good Work On The Desert Road

Transporting New Zealand has congratulated NZTA and its contractors on the announcement the Desert Road between Waiouru and Tūrangi will reopen this Friday as scheduled.

The closure had meant 800 trucks per day needed to take a detour, with the vast majority using SH4. That resulted in a major increase in traffic on SH4 which usually gets about 240 trucks per day. The cost related to the additional detour time for trucks was about $100,000 per day.

Under the current tough economic condition some freight operators will have been unable to pass on those extra costs, so freight operators will be very pleased to see the route reopened on time. The reduced travel time also eases the demand on labour.

As well as improved productivity, the reopening is good news for supply chain resilience. While SH4 was the main route, that increased the risk of a single point of failure on the road network across the Central Plateau.

Transporting New Zealand CEO Dom Kalasih says he looks forward to driving the route. In the meantime he is eager to hear members views, particularly on the safety and road surface improvements.

"We have been supportive of the idea that closing roads for a limited time is better than having long-term stop/go traffic management as NZTA says it enables the work to be done much faster and safer.

"We certainly aren’t complaining, but we are also fascinated that NZTA has rebuilt and repaired 28 lane kilometres, which is 12 lane kilometres more than was planned. Given the chequered history of delivering roading projects on time and on budget, we’re keen to understand how NZTA has managed to achieve so much more above target. If this performance can continue then that bodes well for the future!"

He also congratulated the many motorists and truckies that have managed the inconvenience of the detours.

"From what we’ve heard, despite the big increase in traffic and the anticipated delays at major intersections, things have gone very well.

"In fact the overwhelming response we’ve heard is that the communities along the detour route have benefited from the extra travellers.

"It’s a testament to the great culture we have - our people are very good at just getting on with what needs to be done to keep the country going."

He reiterates a request from NZTA to take it easy in the first few days after the reopening and to comply with the speed restrictions as there will be loose road chips and contractors will still be working on certain sections.

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