The rattled nerves of pedestrians and shop keepers in the centre of Levin will be soothed by the news a “noisy” intersection is about to be smoothed.
The intersection of Queen St and Oxford St has been a bugbear for retailers and pedestrians who have long complained about the noise heavy vehicles made when hitting an uneven road surface.
The noise had been described as “deafening”.
A group of retailers lodged a formal complaint to Waka Kotahi as far back as 2017, while two years ago temporary work was done to fix potholes.
Levin shop owners Bryan Wilton, Michelle Goldie and Dave Lyons all said the loud bangs had an effect on business.
Dave Lyons from Levin Lucky Lotto welcomed the news and said it was empty trucks that made the loudest bang.
“You can’t hear yourself think,” he said.
Chainey’s RetraVision manager Bryan Wilton had described the noise of an empty truck driving over a pothole as deafening. He could be mid-conversation with a customer when they would have to start the conversation again.
“We are in the service industry - and you can’t even hear each other,” he had said.
Waka Kotahi contractors attempted to start the extensive remedial work on the intersection earlier this year, but were dogged by heavy rain, so works were deferred till now.
Nightime detours will be in place while the intersection between is smoothed over and resurfaced.
A night-time detour will be in place from Levin from Oxford St while work is done on the Queen St intersection.
The maintenance works will start on Wednesday, November 8 and are expected to be completed by Tuesday, November 21. Crews will be on site between 6pm on Sunday and 6am Friday. Workers will have Friday and Saturday nights off.
While the section of road is being resurfaced at night, a signposted detour will be in place.
Northbound traffic will detour down Bath St to Salisbury St to Exeter St before rejoining SH1, while southbound traffic will detour down Tyne St to Cambridge St to Liverpool Rail Crossing and then back to SH1.
Waka Kotahi anticipates the detour will add up to five minutes to the journey. SH1 will remain open for motorists with a temporary speed limit in place during the day.
Once that work was completed, it was anticipated the road would be down to one lane between November 22 to December 5 from 6pm to 6am as crews do further work on Oxford St.
An overnight one-way closure will be in place for southbound traffic, with a detour via Bath St/Cambridge St to Liverpool Rail Crossing. The road will remain open for northbound traffic during that period.
All works are weather dependent and could be postponed at short notice. Access would be available to local properties.
Motorists were also advised of further works on Hokio Beach between December 6 and December 11, from 6pm to 6am. The stop/ go system will be in place on SH1 during that time with delays likely.
