Tauranga toll road to close for cycling and walking bridge installation

A new cycle and foot bridge that will span Route K is slowly taking shape. Photo/John Borren

Tauranga's Takitimu Dr toll road will close for at least 14 hours next Saturday night while a $1.6 million cycling and walking bridge is lifted in to place.

The closure will start at 6pm on May 19 and last until about 8am on May 20, the NZ Transport Agency says.

A short detour will be in place that will be suitable for heavy vehicles.

It was scheduled for a Saturday night because traffic volumes were lower.

The closure was to be this weekend but was postponed due to a forecast of bad weather.

The bridge design has had input from Tauranga City Council, Ngai Tamarawaho and the agency.

The $3.3m project is part of an Urban Cycleways Programme project jointly funded by the Urban Cycleways Fund and Tauranga City Council.

The bridge spans 72m and weighs over 200 tonnes.

Tauranga City Council transportation manager Martin Parkes said the bridge was delivered to the site in two separate pieces last month and had been welded together onsite ahead of the lift.

The design includes decorative concrete piers/decking and a timber handrail that will emulate an eel (tuna) swimming up the Kopurererua Stream.

Decorative timber bollards and other features will be erected around the bridge next financial year.