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Part of Te Puke's No 1 Road will be reduced to one lane from February 2 to March 8 to enable trenching for the Waiāri main trunk water pipeline.

The one-lane closure will extend from the intersection with the Te Puke Highway to property number 31 on No 1 Road and will be in place for five weeks.

The closure is timed to avoid any disruption for the kiwifruit harvest season.

Tauranga's Director of City Waters, Stephen Burton, apologises for the inconvenience the closure may cause road users and residents.

"We are under no illusions and acknowledge this may be painful for some people. Our team worked on alternatives for three months but, for safety reasons, we had to rule out options that would have caused less impact on residents and businesses. It's not the outcome we wanted however it can't be avoided.”

He says the upside is that the road closure is for the minimum timeframe possible and ensures any potential future maintenance causes least disruption.

With significant growth in the area and increased periods of hot, dry weather becoming the norm, water demand reaches peak usage over the summer period. Until the project is commissioned and able to provide additional supply into the water system, seasonal water restrictions will be a likely occurrence.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council Utilities Manager, Kelvin Hill, recognises the project has disrupted the local Te Puke community and acknowledges the need for Tauranga City Council to install new infrastructure to service the wider district.

'The new infrastructure will provide a direct benefit to our District in the future as Western Bay of Plenty District Council has the opportunity to tap into this supply given it has 25 percent of the resource consent for the Waiāri Water Supply Scheme.”

To facilitate the work on No 1 Road, traffic will be managed 24/7 to make sure disruption is kept to a minimum and to ensure access to emergency services at all times.

All residents along the affected stretch of road have been contacted directly by the project team.

For any concerns or questions please contact Jennifer Pearson at Jennifer.Pearson@tauranga.govt.nz or find out more at Tauranga.govt.nz/Waiāri