The major road asphalting project in Ashburton due to start on Sunday will now begin on Friday .

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi says the work, which will mainly affect night-time travel, has been delayed by weather impacting the work programme and required the later start date.

The resealing on State Highway 1 is due to run for five or so weeks.

NZTA’s Mid Canterbury Maintenance Contract Manager Chris Chambers, said people need to build in an extra 30 minutes into their travel plans after 8pm at night and also expect short delays during the day.

SH1 from SH77 Moore St intersection to South St will be closed from April 4, with work happening Sunday to Friday nights.

Chambers said the aim is to use the Friday nights to catch up with the scheduled programme.

SH1 traffic will be managed using local road detours for the first two stages, then Stop/Go for the last week, 8pm to 6am.  

At this stage, there are no changes to the start dates for the other sections of work that were originally announced he said.

SH1 will be reopened each day at 6am, under temporary speed limits with reduced lane widths.