You can’t see past the fence as you drive through the traffic management on Main Road Stoke (note the 30km/hr speed limit!), but the team have been extremely busy upgrading the culvert connecting Saxton Creek Main Road Stoke to the sea.

Changing a culvert of this size from being able to cope with a 1 in 5-year weather event to a 1 in 100-year weather event is an engineering challenge, especially when working in a live tidal environment and the weather events we experienced during July and August last year.

This section is the final stage of a project that has been underway since 2015 to improve flood protection in and around the Saxton area.

The traffic management in place right now is there to protect staff working on the edge of the road and will be there until the end of April.
We are expecting to return to the Saxton Field side of the road by August to add in the cycleway and complete earthworks that will direct the stream to the new culvert.

If all goes well and we have no weather issues, we aim to be finished by late October.

Please follow road signage to keep our contractors and all road users safe.

Date for your diary: Main Road Stoke will be closed for two nights during the week of 10 April 2023 as a crane will be used to lift concrete culvert sections into place. More details on the night closures will be confirmed closer to the proposed time.

Once completed, the Saxton Creek Upgrade will bring significant flood protection to this area.