Dannevirke roundabouts work a long time coming

Two of the Traffic Safe NZ team who kept the workers safe.

Upgrades to two roundabouts in Dannevirke are “all about safety” according to Tararua Alliance manager Dan Erard.

The roundabouts on Queen St had surface and safety issues and upgrades were “a long time coming”, he says.

“The potholes at these sites are world famous in Dannevirke but because there are so many services under each roundabout – water, sewerage, stormwater, gas and fibre optics – we have been careful about the design and methodology to ensure we do this once and do it right.”

The roundabout near South School was closed for four weeks over the school holidays and was opened in time for students returning last week.

The road was dug out, new asphalt laid and a speed hump has been added at the Rawhiti St pedestrian crossing. While the bulk of the work is done, there are some finishing details to be added over the coming weeks, including raised lane separators, speed cushion pads and line marking of the pedestrian crossing.

Dan says the team has worked to a strict programme to get the roundabout ready before school started.

“We know four weeks is a long time for the community to detour and for the businesses on Queen St to have a construction site outside their door.

“Closing the roundabouts is the most efficient way to do this work. Stop/Go would take a lot longer, carry more risks and cost more.

“We are grateful to the community for their patience and are asking for a little bit more while we address the issues at Victoria Ave.”

He says the upgrades are all about safety.

According to Waka Kotahi crash data, there have been eight recorded accidents at the Stairs St/Queen St roundabout and 30 crashes at the Victoria Ave/Queen St roundabout since 2008.

Dan says the average speed through the roundabouts is 48km.

“This is dangerously fast and why we are taking this opportunity to fix the road surface as well as add speed humps to slow traffic going through the roundabouts to 20km.”

Work is scheduled to start at Victoria Ave on Wednesday, February 7.

Dan says in an ideal world the two roundabouts would be completed at the same time to minimise disruption for the community, but in reality that would pose problems for resourcing and materials and limit access for residents and emergency services if the two roundabouts were closed at the same time.

“Staging the work one after the other means we can get the Queen St/Stairs St roundabout open before closing Victoria Ave,” he says.

“Due to the nature of the work – road surfacing requires fine weather – the end date depends on what the weather has in store, but we are working to a programme of four weeks.”

The detour for cars is Cole St or Princess St/Adelaide Rd. Trucks and oversized vehicles are asked to bypass SH2 on Dannevirke east on Swinburn St and Waterloo St. Pedestrians will be able to walk along Queen St around the work site.

Dannevirke South School principal Caroline Transom says she is thrilled the roundabout changes by her school have been finished before school starts.

“They will make it much safer for staff and students,” she says.