Concreting causes further disruption on the road through Waipawa

Traffic build-up on SH 2 entering Waipawa from the south during roadworks in the town's main street earlier this month. Photo / RNZ

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency says it’s taking steps to ensure there’s no repeat of a without-notice shutdown of traffic through Waipawa’s main street, when southbound vehicles were supposed to have been still able to travel through the downtown strip during controversial roadworks.

All traffic was detoured around the Central Hawke’s Bay town’s main-street shopping centre for about 40 minutes on Tuesday morning because of contractors’ worries about the possibility of damage which could have been caused to cars by concreting during a part of the work, the agency says.

Businesses, which had been told only the northbound lane would be closed, were concerned when they noticed the full-closure and the disruption of 12 parking spaces that would have been available for shoppers or motorists stopping in the town.

A Waka Kotahi statement said the contractor working on installing the raised safety crossings in central Waipawa detoured both lanes of traffic away from State Highway 2 through the town for 40 minutes, but had not advised the agency beforehand.

The contractor informed Waka Kotahi that they were milling part of the road and identified a potential safety risk if concrete was to flick up onto approaching cars.

“Although the contractor undertook this action for a potential safety risk, Waka Kotahi was not informed in advance, and as a result, had no time to communicate this to the public,” the agency said.

“This closure understandably caused concern amongst business owners at an already disruptive time and we extend our apologies for this mistake,” they said. “We had previously said at the start of the project that southbound traffic will always remain on the state highway.”

The southbound lane was opened again after 40 minutes and parking remains outside the northbound shops.

The town and motorists passing through face about a month of main-street disruption as work is undertaken, including water-pipe maintenance coinciding with speed-calming measures such as installing raised crossings, a result of consultation three years ago amid concerns about traffic issues.

At the Waipawa Butchery, Annabel Tapley-Smith and staff estimated the closure of the remaining lane lasted for about an hour and a half, and during that time business was cut to “almost zero”.

Initially told by contractors it could be all day, she contacted authorities, who were unaware, and she said later the point was that there had been no communication when the town had been promised it would be kept up to date.

Earlier this month, her husband Duncan Smith said he believed the work could have been better-timed and managed, given that businesses were already struggling from the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle.