Ashburton roadworks: Thumbs up over quick job

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:

Roadworks completed on time have had some Ashburton businesses praising the contractors.

Businesses have suffered from lengthy road works in Mid Canterbury over the past few years, but it wasn’t the case in the Ashburton suburb of Netherby.

Business owners located next to the Netherby roundabout on Chalmers Ave have praised Ashburton District Council contractors Fulton Hogan for their speed in completing the upgrade.

Netherby Meats owner Mike Hanson said they had been told it would take up to 10 days and the cones were removed on Monday morning after just seven days.

“A job done well and in quick time.

“Business was half the trade last week and it was back [to] flat out on Monday morning.

“The contractors were great, got in and got the job done and have done a good job, so [I'm] really happy.”

Four Square Netherby Owner Kim Woods was also thankful it was only a week of interruption.

“The roundabout needed to be done.

“It definitely impacted business for the short time it was being down, but thankful to Fulton Hogan got it done as quickly as they could.”

Woods couldn’t imagine how hard it was for the likes of the Tinwald businesses that dealt with road works for a year while the traffic lights were being installed on State Highway 1.

Council group manager infrastructure and open spaces Neil McCann said the thicker structural asphalt going down at the two roundabouts was designed to cope better with increased traffic volumes and heavy traffic.

“The road surface at both roundabouts should last for 20 years.”

The upgrades are future-proofing for the proposed second bridge, which will connect to the southern end of Chalmers Ave, and the two roundabouts are the main turn-off points towards State Highway 1.

The cost of the two roundabout improvements was $330,000.