Lake Street Update: 7 September 2023

Since the closure of Lake Street on Monday 28 August we acknowledge it has been a difficult time for the community with delays through the town centre.

We have been working in the background collecting community feedback and looking for ways to improve the temporary disruption where possible. We’d like to update you on our discussions below.

Traffic Light sequencing

Working closely with Waka Kotahi’s NZTA’s centralised traffic control team in Wellington, on Friday 1 September we changed the phase time on the Shotover Street lights. These had been set at 38 – 58 seconds on green and have now been extended to run green between 70 – 90 seconds, Monday – Friday between 7 – 9am and 4 – 6pm.

After further monitoring of the light phasing this week, we have implemented the extended green light sequence to run between 7:00am – 6:00pm Monday – Sunday.

Lake Street – possible weekend reopening

We have increased resourcing on Man Street and are also carrying out drainage works on Man Street between Hay and Brecon Street concurrently to speed up the overall programme.

We plan our construction work to utilise the weekends as much as possible for curing time for concrete, drying time for pavements, and any associated quality testing so that Monday to Friday can be as productive as possible. If we have delays during weekdays that our out of our control such as inclement weather, we have to play catch up over weekends.

However we are listening to feedback and we have noted there may be weekends where we can open Lake Street to two-way traffic.

Please note, this may not be possible every weekend but we will update you every Friday on our progress, and confirm if Lake Street can be opened on a Friday. Where it is possible, the road will reopen from 5pm on a Friday, and close again the following Monday from 7am.

This messaging will also be indicated on a VMS board on Lake Esplanade and via QLDC social media.

Lake Street will temporarily reopen to two-way traffic this weekend

We are happy to confirm that Lake Street will temporarily reopen to two-way traffic from 9am on Friday 8 September, to 7am on Monday 11 September.

On Friday we will be working in an area that is clear of the driveable space on Lake Street so we are able to open this to traffic. We will be setting up the road and traffic layout from 7am so the road is ready for 9am.

Lake Street will close again on Monday 11 September at 7am.

We will update you on the ‘weekend status’ of Lake Street on a Thursday each week.

Work completed so far and what’s coming up next week (8 – 15 September)

We’re now almost two weeks into the work programme to finish upgrading Man Street. As a reminder, the work started on 28 August and is expected to be complete by 30 October.

As well as letting you know whether Lake Street can reopen on weekends, we’ll also update you on what work we’ve completed over the course of the week and what’s coming up:

A final note

Our top priority is the safety of all residents and commuters, so we kindly ask for you to please follow the traffic and pedestrian signs and take extra care at all times.

If you have any questions contact QLDC customer services on 03 441 0499 or email: services@qldc.govt.nz