Highway works restarting at COVID-19 Level Three across the South Island/ Te Wai Pounamu

State highway works in the South Island/ Te Wai Pounamu will resume from today (Wednesday, 1 September), with last night’s move to COVID-19 Alert Level 3 for most of the country, excluding Auckland and Northland.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency paused all non-essential maintenance and project work with the move to Alert Level 4 at midnight on Tuesday, 17 August.

Regional Manager Maintenance and Operations Peter Brown says the safety of workers and road users remains the top priority for Waka Kotahi and Alert Level 3 is not a return to normal.

“We're working with contractors on specific COVID-19 plans for each of our work sites. Every one of these plans will align with the new Health Order and strict industry standards provided by Construction Health and Safety NZ.

“These standards and guidelines include measures for pre-planning work, documenting the health and safety of staff, ensuring safe physical distancing is maintained, cleaning of all plant, tools and vehicles, and being able to quickly and accurately trace people should they come in contact with someone who contracts COVID-19.”

The individual plans must be accepted by Waka Kotahi before the project can resume and will be closely monitored to ensure each contractor is complying with the requirements to look after the health and safety of workers and the travelling public.

“The transition back to on-site work will be different for every project, and the timing will depend on the nature and complexity of work sites. Some on-site activity will be able to resume straight away, but it will take time for some sites and projects to be fully operational,” says Mr Brown.

“Infrastructure plays a critical role in the economic recovery of New Zealand so it’s important this work continues, but we will not compromise on the safety of road workers or road users.”

Maintenance work will also resume across the South Island. “Restarting critical maintenance work as we head into summer ensures we are in a position to provide a safe, efficient and accessible state highway network over the next 12 months,” says Mr Brown.

“Maintenance operations will use similar plans to ensure the safety of our people and the communities we work in.

Watch for crews, be ready to slow down

“When driving through worksites, please be patient and respectful and look out for road workers who are doing this vital work to keep us all safe, and ensure freight and essential journeys are not delayed,” he says.

North to south across Te Wai Pounamu

Tākaka Hill, SH60, Tasman District, night closures from next week

Tākaka Hill major repair works will restart in coming days, using the single lane/traffic signal-controlled system regular drivers are well used to.

In addition, there are two weeks of night closures from next Wednesday, 8 September to Wednesday, 22 September, 9 pm at night to 5 am the next morning.

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