A truck utilises the recently completed turnaround at the intersection of State Highway 1 and Hydro Road. Photo: Supplied.
Waka Kotahi says it does not believe a northbound on-ramp at the end of Tirau Road in Cambridge is required and will not support construction of one “at this stage.”
The transport agency’s response comes following news Fulton Hogan supports the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce’s call for an on-ramp.
When the interchange at Tirau Road was designed, it was done so with longer trips in mind, said Waikato BOP regional manager for system design, Jess Andrew.
“It was considered that there would be sufficient capacity on the old SH1 through Cambridge to provide for growth on the local network.”
Fulton Hogan says many northbound trucks leaving its quarry would head south to a new turnaround bay at the intersection of SH1 and Hydro Road rather than go through Cambridge.
Waka Kotahi says it has looked at the impacts to traffic flow.
Given the limited number of trucks that would potentially use this turnaround area – based on the figures in the traffic assessment this would be between one-three trucks an hour – it was unlikely to have significant impact on the efficiency of the state highway, said Andrew.
Any modifications that may need to be made to facilitate a potential quarry would be at Fulton Hogan’s cost, she said.
Meanwhile construction of a turnaround bay at Keeley’s Reserve on SH1, east of Cambridge, is set to start next month and finish before the busy summer period.
The turnaround bay is the second to be built between Cambridge and Piarere this year and will provide drivers with another safe place to pull off the highway to change direction.
These safe turnarounds are crucial pieces needed before additional flexible safety median barriers can be installed on this high-risk road, said Andrew.
The right-turn out of Keeley’s Reserve onto SH1 will remain open until the turnaround at Tunakawa Road is built early next year and more flexible safety median barriers are installed at which point the right-turn out of Keeley’s Reserve will be permanently closed.
