Motorists advised to plan ahead for closure of State Highway 3 Mount Messenger

SH3 Mount Messenger will be closed on December 13 and December 14 from 10am to 2pm. Photo / NZME

Road users are advised to check before they travel over Mount Messenger next week.

State Highway 3 Mount Messenger will be closed for maintenance. Both lanes of traffic will be closed on Tuesday, December 13 and Wednesday, December 14 from 10am to 2pm to complete the essential works.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency maintenance and operations manager Rob Service says a full road closure is required as crews will be working across both lanes at once.

“Scheduled one-hour closures throughout the day were also considered but this would mean delays of up to two hours for motorists and the work would take six to eight days to complete.”

Crews will be asphalting patches to improve the safety and resilience of the road. This work is weather-dependent and will be rescheduled in the event of rain.

The work is part of the State Highway Summer Maintenance programme.

For the 2022/23 programme, Waka Kotahi will renew 2450 lane kilometres of state highways across New Zealand - approximately 10 per cent of the network - including resealing or rebuilding 100 lane kilometres of state highways in Taranaki.

Rob says people are asked to plan their journeys to avoid travel over Mount Messenger during this time.

“We appreciate that road closures are inconvenient but doing it this way means we can complete this vital work quickly and allows people to plan their travel around the closure times.”

Motorists are asked to be patient, follow all instructions of traffic management crews and signs and be kind and courteous to road workers.

Emergency services on emergency and priority response will be let through the worksite during the closure times.

With a number of worksites currently in place on SH3 between New Plymouth and Te Kuiti, people are advised to visit journeys.nzta.govt.nz before heading off.