'Game changer' sections almost finished

A boardwalk near Otakou forms part of a nearly completed section of road widening and cycle...
A boardwalk near Otakou forms part of a nearly completed section of road widening and cycle/walkway improvements at Harington Point. Photo by Gerard O'Brien.

Two sections of Otago Peninsula roadworks are almost complete, and have been described as ''game changers'', with harbour reclamations, wider vehicle lanes and a shared cycleway and footpath key features.

The works are part of an ongoing project to widen, raise and in some cases provide a 3m-wide shared cycleway/footpath from the start of the peninsula as far as Harington Point.

While the entire project will not be finished until 2018, two key sections are due for completion by year's end.

The section of Harington Point Rd from Ohinetu Point to Harington Point is expected to be complete by the end of this month, while the section from Weir Rd to Tidewater Dr should be finished by the end of next month.

The new sections will be high enough to avoid high-tide flooding, and will provide 3m-wide vehicle lanes - up from the average 2.75m width of the original road's lanes.

The shared cycleway/walkway will be separated from vehicle traffic by a 250mm shoulder and concrete block delineation.

Dunedin City Council network development and operations manager Mike Harrison said harbour reclamation varied along the route but averaged about 5m.

In some places, reclamation of as much as 12m had been needed.

A boardwalk near Tamatea Rd was being built along a section of historic stacked stone wall, offering a platform to view the wall.

Other historical and cultural areas had been identified, consulted on and designs amended to protect them, he said.

The works had also ensured slipway, boathouse and foreshore access had been moved or reconstructed where necessary.

Otago Peninsula Community Board chairwoman Christine Garey said the sections of footpaths and cycleways that had been completed on the peninsula to date - particularly around the Macandrew Bay area - had been ''a game changer'' for neighbouring communities.

People were now more ''connected'' with each other, she said.

''They stop and talk to each other. You see people out and about that wouldn't be otherwise because it was just too dangerous - elderly people and young children. From the moment that pathway was finished, there were people on it.''

People in wheelchairs or bikes and children on scooters could now travel alongside sections of road that previously were the domain of motor vehicles only, she said.

''And I suspect that will happen at all of the new sections. This couldn't be more important to our community. It's going to be a game changer.''

The economic opportunities resulting from the works, particularly regarding tourism, were also expected to be ''massive''.

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