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The Wharehine team working on the construction of the long-awaited eastern footpath link, between Rodney Street and Centennial Park Road in Wellsford, was treated to morning tea by Wellsford Four Square recently.
The new path will mean people can walk easily from Wellsford town centre down to businesses, a preschool and Centennial Park without having to cross the busy State Highway 1 to go over the railway.
Four Square owner Ollie Johnson said the morning tea was in appreciation of the work the team was doing.
“It’s all about local businesses supporting one another,” Johnson said. “The new path will be great for the town and everyone in Wellsford is so glad to see it finally being built.”
Project manager Sam Downing said the food and gesture was much appreciated by the team.
“We’ve actually been receiving a lot of food from locals, everything from homemade apple pies with cream to hand-baked savoury pies and sausage rolls,” Downing said.
“It’s so nice to be working on a project that the community so obviously is behind.”
The path extension, which has been dogged be bureaucratic delays over the past three years, will include a new footbridge over the railway line. The reinforced concrete bridge girder is being manufactured in Tauranga and is expected to arrive in about a month’s time.
It will be lifted into position using two cranes and will involve closing State Highway 1 overnight, as well as some disruption to power supplies.
The estimated cost of the project is just over $4 million, which includes investigation, design and construction. It is expected be finished around August/September, weather permitting.
