A hearings committee has approved the NZTA's request for a designation change from the Dunedin City Council, which will allow the NZTA to carry out safety improvements to State Highway 1 through the upper Caversham Valley.
However, the approval came with 13 conditions which included submitting a construction management plan to the DCC setting out details of traffic management during construction, and dust and noise mitigation; the recording, translocation and ongoing management of the rare worm, peripatus; modification and access to DCC water and waste infrastructure; protocols to be followed if archaeological material is discovered during construction; and planting requirements.
NZTA Southern regional director Jim Harland said the agency had accepted the conditions, and only a few hurdles remained in the way of construction beginning.
"The designation process aside, there is still further land to be purchased for the highway widening works and a new bridge at Lookout Point.
"One of the key concerns raised through the designation process, was the wellbeing of the ecology within Caversham Valley.
"Preparatory work to enhance this is now being advanced.
"The agency is working to ready the project for a construction start post July-August 2012, acknowledging that this remains subject to closure of the designation appeal process, acquiring the property we need, and confirmation of the 2012-15 National Land Transport [funding] Programme."
Mr Harland said the project would cost between $20 million and $25 million to construct, and would be fully funded by the NZTA.
Construction work was expected to take about 20 months to complete, he said.
Hearings committee chairman and Dunedin City Councillor Colin Weatherall said the NZTA had presented a "very responsible view" during the hearings process and he believed the development would give "value to road users in the area".
