Rebuild, repair and reseal: The season of roadworks is here for Waikato and BoP

Where possible, chip sealing will happen at night to help reduce the impact on motorists. Photo / Waka Kotahi

Spring is here and October signals the start of the annual roadworks season with a busy schedule of rebuild, repair and resealing work across state highways in Waikato and Bay of Plenty.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency says there is a significant programme of work for contractors starting now and continuing through summer into March.

The agency says with more than 700 lane kilometres of state highway to be rebuilt or resealed, crews will be working day and night in the months ahead to complete an ambitious programme.

"To put it bluntly, this does mean that disruption will be a constant," says Waka Kotahi regional manager Rob Campbell, "but it's all about improving our state highways - for everyone.

Rebuild, repair and resealing work will be happening across state highways in Waikato and Bay of Plenty. Image / Waka Kotahi

"Looking at just the first few weeks of October, there will be approximately a dozen crews working on various activities across the network. Each worksite requires traffic management to keep both crews and road users safe; in some places, this can mean stop/go traffic management with minor delays, at other times roads will need to be closed to allow work to take place.

"Early work programmes include chip sealing on State Highway 25 up the west side of the Coromandel Peninsula, asphalt resurfacing in Te Awamutu, Putaruru and Whakatane, and road rebuilds in the Waimana Gorge and near Whenuakite."

There are also significant work programmes planned for SH2 between Waihī and Ōmokoroa and on SH1 through the Desert Road.

"We appreciate that closures will create longer journeys, however, the nature of some areas crews need to work in makes it impossible to allow traffic through safely. However, when we close roads we look to take the opportunity to undertake a range of maintenance activities at the same time, such as guardrail repairs, sign cleaning and repair, and vegetation maintenance.

"This will reduce routine maintenance requirements over the rest of summer," says Campbell.

With various works happening concurrently, it may seem challenging to understand the best way to travel to a destination.

"To keep your wheels turning we highly recommend checking the Waka Kotahi Journey Planner ( https://www.journeys.nzta.govt.nz/ ) before heading out. This will keep everyone cruising and will also help with any backup plans should things change at short notice.

"Where possible, we will minimise disruption; for example, we will undertake chip sealing at night between Waihī to Ōmokoroa on State Highway 2, which will help reduce the impact we have on this busy corridor."

Waka Kotahi has a vision of zero deaths and serious injuries on New Zealand roads.