An upgrade to improve safety at McKendries Corners on State Highway 7 near Greymouth gets underway this week.
An upgrade to improve safety at McKendries Corners on State Highway 7 near Greymouth gets underway this week.
NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has awarded the contract to realign this section of State Highway 7 to Fulton Hogan Ltd with the project due for completion in May 2010. The work will involve corner easing, improving visibility for road users and reduce the likelihood of significant slumping in the road.
NZTA Canterbury-West Coast Regional Director Mark Yaxley says one of the challenges with this job is that it is on an active slip. Every effort has been made to reduce ongoing maintenance costs associated with this slip including the use of engineered lightweight high density polystyrene fill to reduce weight to the slip. While this will greatly improve the situation ongoing maintenance is still likely after the upgrade.
Mr Yaxley says because of the confined area the contractors have to work in traffic will need to be reduced to one lane during most of the time it takes to complete this project. The NZTA apologise for any inconvenience this may cause road users and will make every effort to minimise disruptions.
