Tenders open for Tinwald corridor upgrade

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

From local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:

Tenders are open for the Tinwald corridor upgrade which will take 12 months to complete once it starts later this year.

But there are already concerns about the disruption it will cause.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is calling for tenders to construct the State Highway 1 improvements through Tinwald that includes an upgraded intersection and traffic lights at the SH1/Lagmhor Rd/Agnes St intersection and adjacent streets, a new rail level crossing and improved pedestrian and cycling facilities.

It is a similar joint Waka Kotahi and Kiwi Rail project to the upgrade at Walnut Ave intersections that was completed in November last year.

That project, which took 18 months to complete, sparked the ire of the community over how long it took.

With construction in Tinwald expected to begin soon after mid- 2023 and take about a year to complete, with the time frame to be finalised in the tender, councillor Richard Wilson raised concerns about the disruption of another “12 months of road cones”.

“At the moment it’s bad enough [with traffic] stopping halfway to Hinds, this could mean we don’t get out of Hinds, so I’m concerned how this upgrade is going to disrupt us,” Wilson said.

There have been previous assurances from Waka Kotahi and KiwiRail that they would work more closely together for this project and that the communication around timings would be much clearer.

Waka Kotahi will be meeting with the council soon to present the final design.

“The meeting isn’t for council endorsement or consultation, instead it is for information, and presents an opportunity to explain the final design and answer questions,” chief executive Hamish Riach said.

The consultation with stakeholders and the community occurred back in 2021 and “there has been ongoing engagement with residents and businesses during the design”.

“During consultation, there were several opposing thoughts and ideas, however, we believe they have followed a reasonable process in consulting with many stakeholders, although it is fair to acknowledge it has taken a long time to get to this point.”

Waka Kotahi's director of regional relationships, James Caygill, said the improvements will make getting on and off SH1 easier at peak times.

Discussing it earlier this week, the district councillors said the best solution to improve traffic flow will be the proposed second bridge.

“Living on that side of town I feel the pain,” councillor Laan Braam said.

“The best option to me to fix it is the second bridge, and the sooner the better.”

Ashburton mayor Neil Brown and Riach are off to Wellington next week to meet with government ministers to further push the case for funding the second bridge.