An update.

Prestons Road closure extended due to bad weather

Prestons Road, between Grimseys Road and 171 Prestons Road, is closed to westbound traffic to allow us to connect the new bridge to Prestons Road. Unfortunately, due to the very poor weather we have had, work in this area has been delayed and this closure will need to stay in place for longer.

At this stage we hope to have eastbound traffic switched over onto the new bridge between 14 and 16 July and the westbound closure will remain until the Bridge is fully open in early August.

Our apologies for this ongoing inconvenience and thank you for your patience and understanding.

The suggested diversion for westbound traffic is via Hawkins Road, Radcliffe Road and Main North Road. Please expect up to five minutes delay.

Cyclists can either take the diversion or dismount and walk on the footpath passed the Prestons Road lane closure.

Pedestrian/cycle subways closed over night

On Sunday night 5 July and Monday night 6 July from 10pm till 4am, we are closing the Hills Road subway for all users. We will be asphalting the floor of the subway overnight and painting the walls.

We will move the asphalting crew to Grimseys Road subway on Sunday night 12 July and Winters Road subway on Sunday 26 July closing these for one night each from 10pm till 4am.

Due to the nature of the work there can be absolutely no access through these subways during this work. Please re-route to avoid each subway on the night in question.

QEII Drive roundabouts traffic switch over

On or about Sunday 12 July (depending on the weather) we will move eastbound QEII Drive traffic onto the north side of the new roundabouts on either side of the QEII Drive bridge. This change means traffic will be on both sides of the roundabouts and we can work on the centre medians.

While the new westbound lanes on QEII Drive look almost ready for traffic, we won't be moving to these lanes until we have some warmer dryer weather (hopefully in early spring). This will allow the road to dry out and the chip seal layer to warm up and bond to the road.

Local road bridge pretty in pink

This week we trialled the lighting on Belfast Bridge; one of the three local road bridges that go over the new CNC motorway and will light up at night. While pink is definitely my favourite, the lights on all three bridges will change and can be set to a any colour to celebrate special events.

If the weather cooperates the Radcliffe and Prestons Bridges will also reach milestones soon, with both expected to open to two-way traffic on or about 30 July.

What's happening on SH1 and Waimakariri Bridge

We are aware the road surface on the Waimakariri Bridge is potholed at the moment, especially on the southbound lanes. In the short term we are doing our best to patch any problems and we have reduced the speed limit over the bridge to keep drivers safe.

But what is the long-term solution?

From 4 July, or as soon as the weather clears up, we will start sealing the two new centre lanes on the Waimakariri Bridge. This will happen during the day and will not affect traffic on the bridge.

Once the new lanes are sealed, we will move southbound traffic onto these new lanes and remove all the old asphalt layers on the old southbound lanes and totally re-seal them. We hope to start this work in mid-July and it will take about four weeks.

In mid-August we will move northbound traffic onto the two new centre lanes and work on the northbound lanes.

We will provide more information on dates and traffic management before this work gets underway.

Thank you for your patience as we repair the SH1 Waimakariri Bridge and please drive to the posted speed limit when weather and road conditions are not the best.

QEII/Innes Roundabout sealing delayed

We have not been able to complete our sealing work at the QEII/Innes Roundabout this week because of the recent wet weather.

We hope to be able to continue our night work from Sunday 5 July for about 2 weeks. We have done most of the very noisy milling work and will now be sealing, constructing kerbs and planting.

Unfortunately, this intersection is very busy, so we have no choice but to work at night.

We need dry weather for sealing so bad weather may extend this work further.

During the night work, the roundabout will be closed to westbound traffic, QEII Drive eastbound traffic can drive straight through on the slip lane but there will be no right turn at the roundabout to go to Innes Road.