Terry McKee near his Waikanae Butchery business which has been affected by construction work. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Terry McKee near his Waikanae Butchery business which has been affected by construction work. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Each day when Terry McKee looks out of his butcher shop window he is met with the sight of unfinished roadworks.
McKee owns the well-known and award-winning Waikanae Butchery and, while it once sat in a prime spot along State Highway 1, it now looks deserted, and customers oftenmistake it for being closed.
“I have had customers come and tell me they thought we were closed.”
Waka Kotahi has been revoking the former State Highway 1 through Kāpiti into a local road now that the Mackays to Peka Peka Expressway is operational.
It has meant extensive construction work between Raumati, Paraparaumu and Waikanae.
Part of the work list included the removal of a rock wall outside the butchery.
The rock wall, which separated the butchery from the road, and acted as a bit of a safety barrier, had been created by the late Leon Kiel.
McKee received an update letter from Waka Kotahi stating the rock wall’s removal was scheduled to start on February 14, 2022, and take at least two weeks to deconstruct.
Terry McKee with a rock wall deconstruction letter from last year. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The rock wall was duly removed but ongoing work in the area has dragged on for a very long time.
McKee said progress outside his shop had been very slow and he hadn’t “seen any workers there since December”.
He said 12 months of looking at gravel and rubbish had become tiring and asked “which two weeks did they intend to have it done?”
McKee said it didn’t help any of the other businesses on the street either and wondered if the construction contributed to the closing of a brand-new bed shop.
“It’s a real shame.”
McKee joked that he considered putting a cake outside the shop for the one-year anniversary of the construction.
“In all honesty, it would be nice to see it finally finished.”
Waka Kotahi regional manager of infrastructure delivery Jetesh Bhula said there are a number of improvements and upgrades being made to the old SH1 including resurfacing works, intersection upgrades and new traffic lights, new kerbs and channels, improving facilities for pedestrians and cyclists, and upgrading and improving parking, landscaping, and street furniture.
“The current works outside Waikanae Butchery are the construction of a kerb and channel realignment, and repositioning of new traffic signals.
“This is to allow for changes to the lane layout at the intersection of the old SH1 and Elizabeth St.”
