Main street roadworks to begin
Work to replace Alexandra Street's worn out surface will begin in Te Awamutu next week.
The work will involve digging down around 160mm, taking off the top layer and replacing it with high quality polymer asphalt. Unless it is done, Alexandra St will not continue to cope with Te Awamutu's high traffic volumes including heavy trucks.
Around 450 meters of the street will be impacted by the roadworks, from the Rewi Street/Mutu Street roundabout to the Arawata Street roundabout. Work will be done in stages, around 100 meters at a time and on one side of the road only.
Road planning and design team teader Paul Strange said the work will be staggered to minimise disruption to businesses in Alexandra Street. To help, work will only be done at night, beginning around 7pm and ending around 6am, he said.
During the day, it will be largely back to normal although it will be obvious road works are underway. There will be still be parking available on the street, although the parking lines won't be reinstated until the job is finished. With good weather, we're hoping the whole job will only take around 10 days or so.
While work is underway at night, detours will be in place with traffic diverted along Mahoe Street.
The road surface dug up from Alexandra St will be recycled and used to temporarily seal around 2km of unsealed roads in the district. While not a permanent solution, it will help to keep the dust down and will reduce the amount of maintenance needed.
The council has already announced plans to spend $500,000 a year sealing unsealed roads in the district. This measure is in addition to that work.
The work in Alexandra Street is being undertaken on behalf of the council by Downer NZ.
All media enquiries, contact Jeanette Tyrrell (on behalf of council) 027 507 7599