Crown Road closed temporarily

At the end of August, Crown Road will be temporarily closed to allow contractors to work on the East Taupo Arterial (ETA) route.

Crown Road - just south of Ashwood Avenue through to State Highway 5 – will be closed from Wednesday 26 August until 19 December 2009 and a detour via Taharepa Road and Kiddle Drive will be put in place for motorists wanting to access SH5.

ETA Project Manager, Ron Boyle said the road closure will allow workers to construct a drainage culvert and roundabout as part of the ETA. He said, “Crown Road was originally scheduled to be closed earlier in July, however Fulton Hogan was able to re-schedule the construction programme to allow Crown Road to stay open longer for the local community.”

A single lane northbound slip road (similar to an off-ramp) will be in place from late December and motorists travelling on SH5 towards Napier will be able to exit onto Crown Road via the slip road.

Mr Boyle says, “The slip road is an addition to the ETA project which was negotiated by the Taupo District Council with the roading authority following concerns raised by local businesses about a lack of access to the area from the ETA.”

He said “Crown Road traffic wishing to head south or access SH5 will need to continue to use the detour route via Taharepa Rd and Kiddle Drive until the ETA is completed.”

In the future, a more permanent two lane connector road will be constructed and the slip road will be removed.