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Motorists are likely to be able to try out the $46 million Mangatawhiri bypass between Auckland and Coromandel Peninsula this afternoon, helping contractors to consolidate its new surface before it opens for summer traffic.
The Transport Agency says that, providing the weather stays fine, contractors will be able to complete the final seal on the 7km road for westbound traffic to travel over it at low speeds during daylight hours.
It will allow vehicles to use the new road for two or three days, during which time a 30km/h speed restriction will be in force.
Agency regional manager Kaye Clarke said that would help to bed in the new seal.
"Allowing low-speed traffic on to a fresh chip seal does a great job of rolling and locking the chip together and bedding it securely into the bitumen seal," she said.
Traffic will then be re-diverted to the old winding section of State Highway 2 through Mangatawhiri village while finishing work, including lighting, fencing and landscaping, is completed. The new bypass is likely to be opened before Christmas.
