Money diverted to make hazardous corner safer

Money has been scraped together by the Tasman District Council to start work on a dangerous Riwaka-Kaiteriteri Rd corner which urgently needs attention.

Councillors have agreed that the second stage of a seal extension for Eighty-eight Valley Rd will be put off to help fund the widening and stabilising of Turners Corner, which will cost up to $620,000.

Council transportation manager Gary Clark said money has also been found in the council's emergency works major drainage and minor improvements funds.

"It's a cobbling together of different funds to allow the project to be built."

The council did not allow any funding in its 10-year plan for work on the corner. A report, written by engineering consultants MWH and released in August, recommended the "dangerous" corner be fixed in the next year.

The Riwaka-Kaiteriteri Rd is used up to 10,000 times a day during the busy summer months.

Mr Clark said the $620,000 being budgeted was a "rough order of costs" and would cover the purchase of land, consultancy fees, the tendering process, further design work and the construction of the road.

The project has a preliminary design plan and Mr Clark hoped the work would be finished by the end of June.

Most of the work was likely to take place during settled weather in March and April, he said. "Our key goal is to make sure we don't disrupt holiday traffic."

The project is still subject to consents being granted and the success of a land agreement with the Turner family.

The two-lane piece of road will be stabilised and widened and will incorporate a cycle/walkway.

A portion of the work will be subsidised by the New Zealand Transport Agency.

Councillor Michael Higgins said he was happy that the issue had been brought forward urgently and the funds found.

"I accept that the Turners Bluff repair has reached a point of urgency that is greater than sealing the balance of Eighty-eight Valley Rd," he said. "It's a must-do."

- © Fairfax NZ News