The twice-postponed closure of SH2 Chapel St in Masterton has been put off again, this time until later in the year.
Initially scheduled for early June, Waka Kotahi NZTA had planned to close the stretch of SH2 between Jackson St and Lincoln Rd for the next two weekends to excavate and rebuild the pothole-prone section from its foundation.
However, the requirement for two weekends in a row of fine weather in the middle of winter has proved difficult.
A spokesperson for the transport agency said the works will now take place later in the year when the weather improves.
“While there were weather risks in attempting the work at this time of year, it was considered to be worth the effort, given the urgent need to reconstruct the deteriorating road base in parts of Chapel St.”
The spokesperson also noted that Chapel St will not be allowed to deteriorate through the winter and will be continually monitored.
Surface defects like potholes will be remedied during dry periods until better weather allows the full project to resume.
Some sections of Chapel St have been continually prone to potholes for some years, despite being resurfaced in 2005, between 2012 and 2014, and then again in 2017 and 2021.
During the winter of 2021, some sections developed several large cracks and potholes. In that instance, the contractor met the cost of the repair.
In January of this year, Waka Kotahi announced it would rebuild two problematic sections in April and May, but the work was pushed out to June before being postponed until weather improves.
