Road closures will delay paper delivery

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Newspaper deliveries in the city will be later than normal on Tuesday and Wednesday next week due to the overnight closure of State Highway 2 at Otoko for resurfacing.

The road closures are from Monday to Wednesday, February 19-21, from 8pm-5am.

The highway link will open twice to allow traffic convoys through, at 10.30pm and 1.30am each night, but that is too early for the Herald delivery van — meaning the papers will not be able to get through until SH2 is reopened at 5am, when the advice is that traffic could be heavy.

For travellers wishing to join one of the convoys, NZTA Waka Kotahi advises: “Road users will be asked to be at the closure points at Whatatutu Road by 10.15pm and 1.15am, for northbound travellers, and Matawai Village at 10.30pm and 1.30am for southbound travellers, and wait for the pilot vehicle to guide them through. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the worksite and the narrow space available, over-dimensional vehicles won’t be able to be convoyed through.”

NZTA also says this overnight work is weather dependent.

“If wet weather delays work at any stage, the road will be open that night.”

Readers can expect urban deliveries of The Gisborne Herald and New Zealand Herald to be up to three hours later than usual on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.