Work on a Whangārei intersection deferred until after Christmas

Work to finish upgrading a Whangārei intersection will be put on hold over the busy Christmas/New Year period.

In September contractors started work on improving the Tarewa Rd and Porowini Ave intersection.

The $1.8 million upgrade will provide an additional lane on Porowini Ave at the western side of the intersection and an extra lane on Tarewa Rd at the northern side of the intersection.

The council said over the last few months good progress has been made and the job should be finished by February.

It said the teams working on the job have widened the road, relocated cables and power, drainage, signals and lighting and completed kerb, channel, footpath, driveway and wall construction.

The council has decided rather than push ahead with the main pavement work (resealing) during the busiest time of the year, it has deferred the work until the quieter period early in the new year.

The roadworks site will be tidied up and traffic lanes will operate similar to the original configuration from December 21 to January 7 next year.

Redeveloping the new pavement will happen between January 11 and 16 and then signs, pavement markings, signal commissioning and a final tidy-up will be completed by January 22.

Some work will be done at night to reduce the inconvenience for drivers.

Electronic signs will be around the site will keep drivers up to date and access to Tarewa Rd and Porowini Ave will be open as usual.