Project Progress
April 2010: Significant work has been completed at the Wairere Drive/Crosby Road/Tramway Road/Gordonton Road roundabout intersection site. Construction is still on track for completion as scheduled by the end of 2010. Works are starting to take shape at the roundabout, with a large proportion of the earthworks having been completed. Three of the five underpass units have been installed, as have a number of the stormwater, wastewater and service connections, and construction of some of the retaining wall sections.
As construction continues at the roundabout site, traffic movements will be changed or restricted for some periods. From 26 April the temporary access from Crosby Road to Milford Place will be permanently closed, however, pedestrian access from Crosby Road to Stoneleigh Drive will be maintained. From 28 April Crosby Road will be temporarily closed from the Ruby Court intersection through to the Tramway Rd/Gordonton Rd intersection, with a view of reopening this link in June 2010.
December 2009: Great progress has been made on the Wairere Drive extension project. The project is on time and budget. As you may well be aware the final asphalt surface, road marking and landscaping for the section from Hukanui Road to Huntington Drive (east) has been completed. Some further infill planting may be required during the planting season in 2010. Final filling of the large gully has started now that the permanent twin 2000mm diameter culverts and headwall structures have been completed. This work is expected to be completed early in the New Year, which will be followed by paving works.
Council has just approved the early construction of a major roundabout at Crosby/Tramway roads. There has also been a lot of public interest and support for the early construction of the roundabout. The approval allows the roundabout to be built earlier than currently planned and as a result will deliver immediate safety and traffic flow benefits for all road users including cyclists and pedestrians.
The roundabout will be built by the end of 2010 within the original contract period and will include some innovative design features.The innovative design contains a spoked hub for pedestrians and cyclists within the roundabout with underpasses under the mid sections of the roundabout. The roundabout is designed to cater for traffic growth for the next 20 years and when necessary can be signalised to cope with additional demand. The design incorporates the provision for a fifth leg connection for a possible link to the Waikato Expressway and a corridor into the Ruakura area. Construction of the roundabout intersection will commence in mid January, starting with relocation of the Transpower transmission line to the east side of Tramway Road, to allow the road construction works to proceed.
April/May 2009: The section from Hukanui Road to Huntington Drive (east) was opened to traffic following the Christmas break. This included three new pedestrian/cycle underpasses (under Hukanui Road and Wairere Drive near the Hukanui/Wairere roundabout and under Wairere Drive to the west of the Huntington Drive (east) intersection. The final asphalt surfacing and road marking for this section will be completed duing May and landscaping works will be completed over the next few months during the planting season.Work is progressing well on the section from Huntington Drive (east) through to Crosby Road. As the soils on site are extremely sensitive to moisture the works have been aided by the great spell of dry weather.
The 1050mm diameter Far Eastern Interceptor (FEI) sewer pipeline has been laid at depths to 7m through the length of the site with the exception of the two major gullies. Piling and construction of the pipe bridge structure to support the FEI across the gullies will commence in mid to late April following completion of the twin culverts in the Kirikiriroa Stream.The expected settlement of the peat below the gullies has been achieved and the preloads removed. The temporary culvert, installed to pass the Kirikiriroa Stream under the large gully while the settlement was occur-ring, has been replaced with permanent twin 2000mm diameter culverts and work is well advanced on the concrete headwall structures. Final filling of the gullies will take place upon completion of the FEI pipe bridge, with completion expected by mid June (weather depending). The majority of the underground services, formation and noise bunds have been completed. The road pavement, footpaths, etc., (with the exception of the gullies) will commence in mid to late April.
December 2008: Works on the section of Wairere Drive between Hukanui Road roundabout and the eastern connection of Huntington Drive to Wairere Drive are now significantly complete with a chip seal surface. The final stone-mastic asphalt surface is expected to be laid in April 2009. The new pedestrian/cycleway underpasses (Hukanui Road immediately south of the roundabout and Wairere Drive immediately east of the roundabout) are now open for use. These link into the existing network providing good access to local amenities. A third underpass has been completed under Wairere Drive near the eastern connection to Huntington Drive. Work will now focus on the section between Huntington Drive (east) and Tramway Road. Disruption to traffic in this area should be minimal as most of the works are not on public road. Installation of the eastern sewer interceptor pipe is in progress which includes excavations up to 7 metres deep. Monitoring of the fill settlement in the Kirikiriroa Gully will be reviewed early next year. If this has progressed satisfactorily, then the permanent stormwater culverts can be installed.
January 2008: Work to date has concentrated on the gully crossings in the vicinity of Crosby Road, and the relocation of services along the route, particularly in the vicinity of the Hukanui Road roundabout. This work has generally been clear of residents and hasn’t caused too much disruption to the public. Work on the Eastern Gully (beside Crosby Road) has been commenced and a temporary diversion culvert installed to allow the construction of the permanent culvert. The undergrounding of the high tension power cables has been completed from Crosby Road to the Kirikiriroa Gully where a temporary aerial span over the gully has been constructed and will serve until the main gully settlement has occurred. WEL Energy will now complete the underground cabling to connect to the existing underground cabling at Raungawari. Once the existing overhead lines have been decommissioned, machinery will be able to undertake the earthworks safely. Filling of the Kirikiriroa and Coopers gullies is now proceeding well, after overcoming some difficult foundation problems.
November 2007: Earthworks including filling of the Coopers and Kirikiroa gullies are underway. This process is expected to take several months. Topsoil stripping and construction of bunds is also in progress. Service relocation work is continuing on the western end of the project. Installation of the bulk watermain and stormwater infrastructure is being progressed.
September 2007: Preparation is under way by the contractor to complete all necessary environmental, health and safety, and quality plans. Representatives of Ngati Wairere carried out a blessing ceremony on 31 August prior to the commencement of earthworks. Exploratory trenches have been dug to check for evidence of any unknown archaeological sites before the full earthworks begin. | 
