Infrastructure upgrades starting on Pioneer Highway and Botanical Road

Published on 05 June 2025

The new bridge on Amberley Avenue is reopening to traffic soon as work ramps up on other infrastructure upgrades along Pioneer Highway and Botanical Road.

The bridge is expected to reopen as soon as possible following a $4.2 million rebuild since July last year. The bridge was schedule to reopen last week, however, persistent rain as well as urgent work for contractor Fulton Hogan elsewhere in the region has delayed the final asphalt sealing of the road until early next week. If the weather clears, then the road should reopen towards the end of next week.

Over the coming weeks, we’re also investing $1.3m in water and wastewater upgrades on Pioneer Highway and Botanical Road, as well as about $200,000 for road repairs in the wider area.

Motorists travelling on Pioneer Highway and Botanical Road are encouraged to allow a few extra minutes for their journeys over the coming weeks as a series of upgrades take place to improve road safety and support residential growth in the city’s western area.

Also scheduled next week, Fulton Hogan will start road repairs along Pioneer Highway, from Maxwells Line to Botanical Road, before continuing similar work on Botanical Road. This work will repair cracks and potholes by milling the top layer of road and laying fresh asphalt. Each road will take about one week – weather dependent. The work can only be done on days with no rain to allow asphalt to set.

Transport and Development Manager Glen O’Connor says work is being carried out in small sections to keep these roads as functional as we can and cause the least amount of disruption as possible. Work on these streets will involve a mix of lane closures, stop/go controls or full closures depending on the section. Residents are getting a letter in the mail with more details. All businesses remain open and accessible.

“These repairs will fix existing major surface failures to restore a safe and smooth driving surface. Pioneer Highway is scheduled for a rebuild at the end of our current long-term plan in about five years. We appreciate the cooperation and understanding of residents on these streets and we encourage everyone to continue to visit businesses during the construction period,” Mr O’Connor says.

Also on Botanical Road, our wastewater team is currently completing an upgrade to the network by connecting a new pipe from the Featherston Street intersection to Brentwood Avenue, which runs along the front of the Botanical Road shopping centre. This started overnight on Tuesday 3 June and will take about two weeks. It involves a mix of day and night work. It will also include a mix of road closures and lane closures. All businesses at the Botanical shopping centre remain open, though parts of their car park may be closed during the second week of construction when we upgrade the connections from the main pipe to each business property.

Our Council water team is also planning to upgrade a section of the watermain on Pioneer Highway between Maxwells Line and the Mangaone Stream bridge in the next financial year. The upgrade includes installing larger pipes to support residential development in the Kakatangiata growth area. The start date is not yet confirmed, but this is expected to take about four weeks.

Stormwater jobs on Fitzherbert Avenue and in Schnell Reserve are on schedule, while a watermain renewal on Brightwater Terrace has been extended to repair another section of pipe that was discovered in worse condition that expected, pushing the completion date to end of June.

Elsewhere across the city, the Mihaere Bridge reopened last month ahead of schedule. Safety improvements at the intersection of Kelvin Grove Road and Henaghans Road will be completed by the end of June. Kahuterawa Road is currently closed from the reserve upwards on weekdays for emergency repairs until mid-June. Sections of the Mangaone Stream shared pathway are also closed over the coming weeks as Fulton Hogan puts more lime on the surface. Repairs have also been carried out on He Ara Kotahi shared pathway.

This significant amount of work happening in our city, shows how committed our Council is to maintaining and improving our infrastructure.

Updates for these projects will be published via our weekly Friday infrastructure update on our Facebook page, as well as our roadworks webpage.

Follow our Facebook page

Read more about the roadworks