That was the word yesterday from DCC transportation group manager Richard Saunders.
Work on widening the section of road between Turnbulls Bay and Portobello and building a new seawall began near Bacon St about the beginning of last month. Since then about 9000cum of fill, one-fifth of the required 45,000cum, had been deposited in that area and around Edwards Bay, closer to Portobello.
More than 3000 truck and trailer loads of fill were likely to be involved.
"The high-qualify fill for the face of the wall is from the Blackhead Quarry. The rest of it, the bulk fill, is from a range of other quarries around Dunedin," Mr Saunders told the Otago Daily Times. As part of the redevelopment, the road is to be widened in some places by as much as six metres to make it safer for all road users. The extra width will allow a change of lane configuration, making the road wider for vehicles. And it will also provide space for a shared walkway/cycleway, similar to one now in place in the Macandrew Bay area.
Consideration is also to be given to raising the very low parts of the road which are susceptible to flooding during king tides.
"But that will be done once widening has been completed," Mr Saunders said.
Because of the large number of truck movements involved, traffic has had to be carefully managed. But there had been no real major problems as there had been good consultation between local residents and the traffic management people working in the area.
Asked whether there would be something physically separating the vehicular traffic lanes from the walkway/cycleway, Mr Saunders said the plan was to use concrete separators.
"But these will be a new design featuring a rounded edge."
Members of the public had expressed concerns about the sharp-edged separators installed on the section between Weir Rd and the Harwood turn-off. The separators on that section would eventually be changed to the new rounded-edge design.
Mr Saunders said work had been progressing well on the Turnbulls Bay to Portobello section and he was confident the project was on track for its scheduled completion next May.
The completion date for the entire section of road, from Vauxhall to Harington Point, had still to be confirmed. The approximate cost of the whole project was $50million.
