A stretch of State Highway 2 Hawke’s Bay Expressway will be closing overnight for 5 nights early next month.

The closures will allow road surface testing to be carried out as part of the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS) project. 

The expressway, between the Taradale Road and Pākōwhai Road/Links Road roundabouts, will be closed each night between Sunday 3 August and Friday 8 August. The road will close each night at 8pm and reopen at 5am the following morning. The work will be finished by 5am Friday 8 August.

Work will be completed in sections – one section and one direction each night:

On Sunday night, the work will focus on Taradale Road roundabout to Meeanee overbridge – the northbound lane will remain open

On Monday night, the work will focus on Meeanee overbridge to Taradale Road roundabout – the southbound lane will remain open

On Tuesday night, the work will focus on Meanee overbridge to Pākōwhai Road/Links Road roundabout – the northbound lane will remain open

On Wednesday night, the work will focus on Pākōwhai Road/Links Road roundabout to Meeanee overbridge – the southbound lane will remain open

The 5th night – Thursday – is an extra night only if needed.

When the closure is Meeanee Rd to Pākōwhai Rd, the detour in place is for all vehicles up to 50MAX. The detour is: Pākōwhai Road to Te Ara Kahikatea, onto State Highway 51, to Awatoto Road then onto Meeanee Road (and reverse). This detour is not suitable for HMPV (that are not 50MAX permitted vehicles). A reminder that Redclyffe Bridge through Waiohiki has an 8 tonne weight restriction. 

When the closure is between Meeanee Rd to Taradale Rd, the detour is NOT via SH51 but via Taradale Road, Kennedy Road, Gloucester Street, onto Lee Road and onto Meeanee Road. 

NZTA will also take the opportunity to carry out other maintenance activities during the closures.