Pōkeno Main Street Project Update
as of 14 June 2024
Kia ora everyone,
Wow, wet wild and windy weather….drive safe and stay safe out there people!
What’s happened the last 2 weeks:
Main Street
Main Street car park had its finishing touches. Disability ramps were cut in and poured, and that last bit of seal was laid around the new stormwater system. Great to see this car park fully functional and fit for purpose!
A number of minor tidy-ups happened, and the crew has all but disappeared from Main Street now.
Roundabout
New kerb and channel was laid from the hall carpark right through to just shy of the police station. The first section of kerb and channel on the centre roundabout was also laid this week and these 2 combined, begin to reveal the new road layout.
Lot’s more earthworks too as we made a decent undercut on the western side (outside Church Street) and continued with sub-base work.
New addition!
I had a sneak-peak at the new toilet block and if you haven’t seen it…I can confirm it looks fantastic! I wouldn’t normally get this excited by a toilet block but after months of porta-com use, these are going to be a fantastic addition to downtown.
Have a great weekend and please contact me directly with any questions or concerns.
What’s happening over the next week or 2:
Main Street
Counties Power will be installing the traffic signal meter and ensuring the lights are good to go.
The new seats are ready to go and it’s just the planter surrounds that need tweaking by our supplier. It’s not practical to install these at separate times so we’ll wait for everything to be available before swinging them into place off a hi-ab. These are large bespoke concrete works and we don’t have certainty on delivery just yet.
The biggest change you will see next week is that the traffic management kit (barriers and cones) will be removed. We’d intended to wait for everything to be complete, but with uncertainty around the planter surround, we’ll crack on and open up the northbound side of Main Street.
This means there will be extra parks outside shops, new parks tucked around Marlborough Street (up to the barrier) will be accessible, and it will be possible to drive northbound as far as the roundabout site.
We appreciate this is still restrictive as driving north through the roundabout site is still not possible, however, we hope this provides that wee bit more access, parking and manoeuvrability many of you have been asking for.
Roundabout
More of the same at the roundabout site. We’ll keep building up a solid sub-base as this is what will help the roundabout endure for many, many years to come!
Weather permitting we’ll get to lay more sections of kerb and channel around the centre island. Regardless, the prep work will get done for both this and a new speed table.
