Bruno Saia
Bateup Road was fully reopened last Friday afternoon and people who live in the area are already been able to feel the changes.
“It was irritating”. That’s how Nistazia Paulin felt about the 15 months that Bateup Road stayed partially closed. Her whole family was affected by the roadworks.
“It was annoying having to go all the way round as my daughter goes to school on Hill Street, it’s so close but it’s on the other end, so I had to go all around Richmond, through the traffic lights”, she said.
They are relieved that the worst is over. “Sometimes I was sitting in traffic for more than 20 minutes and today it was only 5 minutes”.
There are not many businesses on Bateup Road, but there is one that strongly felt the effects of the enclosure.
“It was really bad for business and we do expect a lot more costumers now”, says Hugh MacMillan, owner of the Alchemy Arts Café, located on Bateup Road.
“During the period it was closed we realised how difficult it is to get to this area of town, especially to access Gladstone Road and Champion Road, especially late in the afternoon”, he says.
Now that the roadworks are done, he believes that the whole town will benefit from it. “There will certainly be less traffic in some roads”.
As soon as the road was opened, he could notice the difference in the number of vehicles passing through it. “But it will take a while until people get used to it again,” says Hugh.
The drought, the high fire risk, and changes made later on during the project to accomodat the new Hart Rise subdivision were the main reasons for the delays, but, according to Richard Kirby, Engineering Manager for Tasman District Council, the roadworks were necessary to follow the growth of the city.
“What was a semi-rural road became an urban road”, he says. “It was opened for traffic on both ways on Friday afternoon and there are still some works being done there, but the traffic will keep free on both ways”.
According to Richard, avoiding droughts is one of the mains reasons for the roadworks at Bateup Road. “We did a big open drain in front of the properties and also enlarged the road”.