Name Address line 1 Address line 2 Address line 3 Palmerston North
24 October 2019
Dear Greens Road resident Reference: Greens Road Upgrade As you may be aware, Mercury intends to start construction of a wind farm in the Turitea Reserve and surrounding farm land. Works have begun to ready the northern part of the Turitea Reserve for the first 33 of 60 turbines and associated transmission lines. The Turitea wind farm project will use Greens Road as an access point for parts of the transmission line construction. 1. Road upgrade works As part of the consent conditions for the project, the first 1340m of Greens Road will be upgraded and sealed. The transmission line construction contractor (Electrix), have engaged local roading company Stringfellows to undertake the upgrade works for Greens Road. This work is expected to start mid-October and be completed in December. • • • • •
Road widening to allow safe two-way traffic Improving storm water drainage and culverts Improving sight lines Installing guide rails Chip sealing
Traffic controls in place during the upgrade works Greens Road is on average 4m wide, and for most part accommodates only one-way traffic. Once construction machinery is on Greens Road manual traffic controls will manage traffic past the work areas. Controls will include signage and speed controls (as you would see on any road construction site). Stop/Go controls will operate for certain activities, ensuring access to and from residential properties as required.
Expected traffic volumes during the road upgrade • • •
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Stage 1: Vegetation clearance 2-3 weeks, 5-10 trucks per day carting waste from site. Stage 2: Earthworks 3-4 weeks. 40-50 truck movements per day. Stage 3: Forming the road and new culverts, 3-4 weeks,10-15 trucks per day and a grader.
Level 3, ANZ Centre, 17 Grantham St, Hamilton 3204 PO Box 445, Hamilton 3240
New Zealand
mercury.co.nz
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Stage 4 Sealing the road 2-4 days, sealing equipment and around 12 trucks of chip seal.
2. Turitea wind farm project construction traffic Once the upgrade of Greens Road is complete, Electrix will transport materials and equipment to a staging area at Brown’s Flat for the construction of the transmission line. This will be ongoing until June 2020.
Construction traffic specific rules The Resource Consent states conditions relating to construction vehicles and allowable worktimes and traffic speeds: • • • •
No engine braking on the flat 50kph speed limit on Kahuterawa Road 30kph speed limit on Greens Road Vehicle movements on Greens Road or Kahuterawa Road o Light vehicles: No restrictions on weekdays. Weekends and public holidays access only between 6.30am to 7.30 am and 5.00pm to 6.00pm, except that up to 10 other light vehicle movements may occur outside of these times each day. o
Trucks: Allowed week days 6.30am to 7.30 am, 8.15am to 3.15pm, and 4.30pm to 6.00pm except that trucks shall not be use the road when particular events, notified through community consultation, are held and which involve a peak in the presence of vulnerable road users, such as equestrian or cycling events. In addition, the prohibition on access from 7.30am to 8.15 am and 3.15pm to 4.30pm only applies on school days. Weekends and statutory holidays, no trucks except that up to 6 trucks per day may occur on weekends and statutory holidays between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
Feedback Please feel free to give feedback on the construction traffic during this project: •
Electrix construction contact number: 0800 222 112
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Mercury Community Feedback: 0800 201 520 or turiteawindfarm@mercury.co.nz
Yours faithfully
John Campbell Turitea Wind Farm Project Manager
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