Transit New Zealand
Wellington Regional Office

MEDIA RELEASE
15 March 2007

Transit resolves to improve communications for road maintenance

Transit New Zealand has resolved to dramatically improve its communications with the public and revamp its road resurfacing and traffic management strategies as a result of last week’s delays on SH1 between Waikanae and Paraparaumu.

Transit operations manager for the central zone Mark Owen says following a meeting yesterday to discuss the problems which arose last week over resealing works on SH1 Transit will embark on a three-pronged approach to improve road surfacing activities. The resealing work was essential maintenance to improve skid resistance and maintain road pavement integrity, but caused major traffic delays at the end of last week and over the weekend.

“The delays experienced last week were regrettable and we sincerely apologise for that. Looking forward, we have reviewed our processes and will address three key areas to improve how we carry out future work. At the forefront of this is our need to give the public more advance notice of work that is likely to cause traffic disruption and the need to consider the best time of day to conduct the work. For resealing in particular, we’ll also be looking carefully at the type of surface we choose.”

Mr Owen says attention would also be paid to how traffic is managed during such work to minimise any potential delays. He made it clear during the meeting that Transit had heard what the public said and will take serious action to address the issues raised.

The meeting included Transit’s contractors, consultants and local Police representatives, and all agreed that a similar situation on SH1 would not be tolerated and accepted that the planning for this work underestimated the impact to road users.

“In short, we will learn from our mistakes on this occasion, put more robust plans and processes in place and be proactive in advising the public. We will also consider other avenues to keep the public informed at the time of roadworks beyond radio traffic bulletins and press releases to the media.”

Mr Owen emphasised the fine line between maintaining SH1’s safety and integrity and keeping the traffic moving, particularly given the amount of work that is currently ongoing along Centennial Highway. Ensuring important work is carried out with as little disruption as possible is a continual challenge in the face of growing traffic volumes.

“We know there is a lot happening on SH1 from wire rope median barrier installation, to MacKay’s Crossing improvements through to the road maintenance works. It doesn’t take much to tip the balance against motorists so we need to plan well in advance and consider all the implications accordingly. We will do so in future.”

Ends

© Scoop Media