A worker at Hastings' biggest retail centre fears traffic mayhem over Christmas and Boxing Day sales with one of the centre's exits closed.
Due to on-going potential asbestos exposure risk after a fire at the now-demolished Hastings Railways Station, Sir James Wattie Pl remains closed to the public.
Hastings District Council closed it after the fire in the early hours of September 21 and said this week it would not reopen until after the festive period.
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Although the railway station has now been demolished and removed, clean-up work is still being carried out in the surrounding area and the area remains closed to ensure public safety, a council spokesman said.
Due to its technical and specialised nature this work will not be able to be completed to meet certified standards before the end of January next year.
Retailers at the local Hastings Park Mega Centre are already seeing the closed road cause a bit of havoc as the Christmas shopping rush begins.
A spokeswoman from Angkor Wat Kiwi Bakery & Cafe, located at the mega centre, said the main entrance roundabout on Karamu Rd had been getting busier and busier over the past few weeks.
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"The roundabout out by where we are is getting very busy," she said.
"Although that traffic doesn't really affect us coming in and out we can see it going by all day and since the fire station road closed it has just got busier and busier.
"Over the coming weeks the traffic here is going to get very bad."
Hastings District Council asset management group manager Craig Thew said the public needed to be aware that the busy shopping season, combined with the road closure could disrupt traffic in and around the Hastings Park Mega Centre.
"Council is encouraging the private businesses to complete their site clean-ups as quickly as possible so that the road can be reopened," Thew said.
"In the meantime motorists and The Park Mega Centre users are encouraged to use alternative roads other than Aubyn St and Karamu Rd during peak traffic times."
