Stormwater pipe progress under Railway Rd slowed by weather but now 'proceeding well'

Hastings District Council says the installation of a large storm water pipe under Railway Rd is proceeding well. Photo / Supplied

Hastings District Council says work on installing a large storm water pipe under Railway Rd is "proceeding well", with 250m out of the full 750m of the final section left to go.

After getting well ahead of schedule over the first few weeks, going had been a little slower over the past fortnight given wet weather and silty ground conditions.

Those ground conditions were improving to shingle again as the digging progressed towards the city.

The contractors said the project's completion date remained the end of the month, as long as the weather did not markedly deteriorate.

It was expected the excavations would be outside the Hastings Sports Centre by mid-next week, with traffic management in place to ensure parents picking up children from after school programmes had access.

Access to all businesses along the stretch is being maintained. There was also a great number of users at the sports centre during the day, participating in everything from Kiwi Seniors to badminton. Other businesses along the affected stretch are being individually contacted with updates.

Hastings District Council works and services committee chairman Kevin Watkins said it was very pleasing that the contract remained on time, despite variable weather.

"This was a project that needed to be done before the worst of the weather arrived, given it's an area that has a high water table. It is a crucial project that will address surface flooding historically suffered in the area.

"As always, with projects of this size, there has been disruption to traffic and businesses along the route, and we thank everyone for their patience."