​Union St/State Highway 1, Milton to temporarily reopen this afternoon

In our last update of 11 September, an overview of the asphalting work was given and we advised that the sealing was nearing completion between Springfield Road and Melville Ave.

Initial layers of asphalt have now been laid. However, final asphalting is awaiting shipment of supply from overseas. With asphalt manufacturing no longer available in New Zealand, supply has taken longer than anticipated.

The project remains unfinished until we can complete the asphalting, however we acknowledge the inconvenience of the local detour and traffic signals, and work has progressed to the point where we can safely reopen the State Highway temporarily.

Union Street/State Highway 1 will be reopened at 4pm this afternoon, and the detour will be lifted. A 30km/h temporary speed limit will be in place, as the initial asphalt work is not in a finished state.

We are expecting the remainder of asphalt work will begin in early November, and it will take about one week to complete this work. At that time, we will need to temporarily close the State Highway again and reinstate the detour along Centennial Ave.

We will not be completing any permanent remedial work on Centennial Ave until after the final asphalting because there will be further work needed when the detour is reinstated during the asphalt phase. However, temporary repairs can be completed as required.

We appreciate the community and wider travelling public’s frustration during this time. We know that the work has taken much longer than we initially expected.

Questions as to responsibility and liability are being progressed but these are active matters that can’t be publicly commented on at this time.