Busy school road junction to be upgraded

Construction work designed to substantially improve traffic flows on the busy Hone Heke/Cobham Roads junction at Kerikeri is expected to start next week (August 18).

Roads and Stormwater General Manager Richard Green said today the project involved widening the junction to provide for turning lanes, new kerb and chanelling, footpaths and the relocation of some services.

The work had been contracted to Transfield Services Ltd and was expected to cost around $150,000 when completed.

Schools in the area and adjoining residents have been advised by letter of the proposed work which had been scheduled to take about four weeks to complete.

"This is an extremely busy road junction, particularly as children move to and from school. We are asking both pedestrians and vehicles to be very careful while this work is in progress. There may be temporary traffic delays but the contractors have been asked to keep these to a minimum.

"While clear pedestrian access will be maintained at all times, users are urged to keep to the paths provided to avoid any conflict with construction work or with other road users. Where possible, parents and children would be well advised to use other routes until the work is completed," he said.

Any temporary inconvenience would be more than compensated by the vastly improved road layout when the project was completed, he said.