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Twisting hill-country road to get a major upgrade

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PUBLISHED: 21 OCT 2024
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NPDC will be digging out and rebuilding the road over Purangi Saddle, inland from Inglewood, this summer.

The work is part of a long-term fix of Tarata Road between the saddle and Otaraua Road, which is in very poor condition due to heavy vehicles. 

“We’ve been talking with the Tarata community for a while about the best way to fix and maintain the road, including whether to revert this section of Tarata Road to loose metal, and we’re now at the point where we can begin on the Purangi Saddle section,” says NPDC Manager Infrastructure Projects Rui Leitão.

“In the last two seasons we’ve been widening some corners on the saddle by cutting into the cliff faces. Once this rebuilding work is finished, drivers will be able to cross the saddle on a road that’s wider, safer and much more resilient than it is now.”

This area of the hill country has soft soils, and the road was originally built to carry light traffic. However, the developing forestry sector has seen an increasing number of logging trucks on Tarata Road, causing the road to break up.

Stage one of road works will run from 29 October to 19 December, and stage two from 15 January to late March. Given the nature of the road, Purangi Saddle will be closed from 9am to 6pm each day, with two windows for through-traffic:

  • Noon to 12.30pm.
  • 4pm to 4.30pm.

The road will be open overnight between 6pm and 9am, and on Sundays. Please take care when driving over the saddle.

The Purangi Saddle project will cost $1.5m, funded 51 per cent from NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi and 49 per cent from NPDC. It is being run by the New Plymouth Infrastructure Partnership (NPDC and Downer).

Fast facts:

  • NPDC looks after 1,309km of roads throughout the district.
  • In 2024/25, we are spending $26.3m on road maintenance, operations and renewals (excluding emergency works).

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Page last updated: 11:34am Tue 22 October 2024

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