Ashburton District Council's $10 million Ashburton Relief Sewer (ARS) project on the eastern side of town will begin making headway next week, and drivers are being advised the work will impact parts of Wakanui Road.

The project will see 5.1km of larger 600-800mm wastewater pipe installed underground from Bridge Street in Netherby, down to the river-end of Milton Road South where it will be connected to the new river crossing pipeline and pump station.

The upgrade is designed to future-proof the town's wastewater network as the population continues to grow.

From Monday 22 March, Wakanui Road from Trevors Road (including the Albert Street intersection) through to the Milton Road South intersection will be closed until mid-August.

Additionally, the Wakanui Road/Milton Road South intersection will be closed to all through traffic until Monday 5 April.

Council Infrastructure Services Group Manager, Neil McCann is reassuring residents who live in the affected area that they will still have full access to their properties.

"We understand these closures and detours will cause some disruption for residents and we apologise for this inconvenience. The ARS project will play an important role in supporting our growing district and is a necessary upgrade for our future."

While the Wakanui Road/Milton Road South intersection is closed, vehicles travelling into Ashburton on Wakanui Road will be directed onto Cochranes Road where they will then turn right onto Beach Road East and continue into town.

Those travelling out of Ashburton on Wakanui Road will be detoured via Trevors Road to Beach Road East. They will then be able to rejoin Wakanui Road from Cochranes Road.

From Tuesday 6 April, the Wakanui Road/Milton Road South intersection will reopen to Milton Road South traffic, however vehicles on Wakanui Road will still be unable to pass through.

All detours will be signposted.

Beach Road East will remain unaffected at this time, however the project will eventually impact the Beach Road East/Milton Road South intersection later in the year.

"This is a large and complex job and we are aiming to complete it as quickly as possible. We've enlisted the services of two contractors - Ashburton Contracting and Seipp Construction to achieve this and we are expecting to complete the entire project by the end of March 2022," Mr McCann adds.

The Council has been awarded $7.98 million from the Government's three waters reform stimulus package to carry out the work.

For further information and ongoing updates on the ARS project, visit ashburtondc.govt.nz/ars.