A 1.4km section of Seafield Road will be reconstructed in a three-month project beginning in January and costing about $430,000.

The section of road to be rehabilitated is between Morris Road and the Ashburton Airport and it will be done in two stages, with the road closed from mid January.

Infrastructure and Open Spaces Group Manager Neil McCann said the closure was challenging because it would affect workers travelling to and from the ANZCO meat works on Seafield Road as well as people going to the airport.

“Our contractors have been informing all those who live in the area, as well as the meat works and airport users, including the aviation museum, about the rehabilitation work and the detours that will be in place.

“The first stage will be between Morris Road and Milton Road, and the second stage from Milton Road to the airport. The detours will be well signposted and contractors will be doing their best to keep the project on schedule.”

He said the project was challenging because of the volume of traffic that used the road – more than 2000 a day use the section that will be repaired.

“This is an older sealed road, so the failed areas will be dug out and a new layer of basecourse placed to better cope with the volume and weight of traffic that uses it today.”

The project is scheduled to be completed by early April.

A 1.2km section of Maronan Road is also being rehabilitated from 6 January. The segment under construction is between
Lills Road and Lovetts Road and the project is scheduled for completion by 31 March.

Mr McCann said rehabilitations involved a lot of work but resulted in much-improved roads.

“This summer Council is spending $2.4 million rehabilitating about 8.5km of roads and that’s in addition to the $8.2m being spent on resurfacing and maintaining other sealed and unsealed roads.

“Our contractors finished a chunk of rehabilitation work before Christmas, thanks to some great weather for roading repairs, so we’re hoping the weather plays ball in the new year too.”