Workers made significant progress on Remutaka Hill maintenance last week. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
Road crews paved more than two kilometres and added hundreds of metres of railing during the five-night closure of State Highway 2 over Remutaka hill last week.
The five-night block closure for traffic over the hill pass ended at 4am on Friday.
Contractors for the New Zealand Transport Agency made inroads into their to-do list.
Workers installed 387m of guardrail, 80m of new motorcyclist protector guardrail, 180m of new concrete stormwater channels, and made other general repairs.
“By concentrating our efforts over a short space of time, our crew were able to complete three months’ worth of Remutaka Hill maintenance work in the space of this week’s five nights of road closures, making the highway safer for road users and helping them to avoid many stop go events during the busy time of the day,” NZTA’s Mark Owen said.
Locals laid on a surprise gift of baked treats for the road crew.
On Thursday evening, a resident came to the site office, offering her appreciation for undertaking the closures at night, therefore significantly reducing the drive-time disruption for her.
She delivered some fresh, and still hot, baking for the crews.
The gift was much appreciated, Owen said.
The next set of closures are due from January 12 to 17.
If it took 5 nights.. it’s just a lame statement to say it was 3 months work.