State of our roads - public roading forum in September
Public roading forum
The state of the roading network around the Coromandel will be the focus of a public forum being held early next month.
The forum's been arranged by our Mayor Sandra Goudie and is an opportunity for the public to meet with agencies
including the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) to discuss planned maintenance and priorities for future improvements
to the Coromandel's State Highway network (SH25 and SH25a).
"Recently the Coromandel Business Association hosted a similar public meeting at Coromandel Town, inviting NZTA
representatives to discuss the situation over slips along the Thames Coast Road (SH25) which has seen on-going road
closures, affecting the upper Coromandel Peninsula for the past several months," says Mayor Sandra.
"This roading public forum will be along similar lines, but will encompass the entire district roading network, not just
the Thames Coast Rd," says Mayor Sandra.
The public forum is on Wednesday 6 Septmeber 5.30pm at the Thames Civic Centre (Conference Room), Mary St, Thames
NZTA works programme
NZTA has started work on building one of the two retaining walls required on Pumpkin Hill, north of Tairua, following a
drop-out earlier this year after heavy rain.
The second retaining wall should be underway soon, along with a culvert replacement near the Colenso cafe.
Meanwhile the retaining wall under construction at Kereta Hill should be completed by the end of next week.
Additionally several other resilience projects are planned around the rest of the Coromandel over the next year designed
to both protect the road and reduce the risk of rock falls.
• SH25A near Kopu, retaining wall
• Boundary Creek, rock protection wall
• Kereta Hill, retaining wall (section 2)
• Whangapoua Hill, retaining walls at two sites
• Kuaotunu Hill, retaining walls at two sites
Coromandel Gold Rush Rally this weekend.
This weekend, roads around the Coromandel-Colville and Mercury Bay wards will be used for the Coromandel Gold Rush Rally
of NZ.
The forestry roads that have been used in previous years are unavailable due to harvesting, so a new route has been
drawn up which involves racing around the northern parts of the Coromandel.
Road closures are in place on Saturday 26 August with more than 60 rally cars expected to be competing in what is round
six of the 2017 Brian Green Property Group NZ Rally Championship.
This year's Coromandel Gold Rush rally will be particularly special with NZ and World Rally motorsport icon Hayden
Paddon racing.
Meanwhile, the Mercury Bay Multi-Sports Park in Whitianga will be Rally Headquarters for the weekend, as it has been on
the previous occasions. Spectators are welcome to come and view the cars and crews up close as they come in for
servicing, before heading into the Whitianga Town Centre for the ceremonial finish later in the afternoon.
ENDS