With roads still closed, bridges damaged and residents along the affected routes effectively cut off from the rest of New Zealand, repairs on SH1 will continue through the long weekend.
NZTA expects the road to reopen by next Tuesday at the earliest.
A new slip has fallen on a section of State Highway 1 near Kaikōura days after severe flooding hit the region. Photo / NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi
“The rock and vegetation slip this morning from the adjacent hillside is in a site where the high river levels and flooding have eaten away at chunks of the highway, requiring rock to be brought in to build up those affected sections of the road,” a spokesperson for NZTA said.
“The slip area has been isolated this morning in anticipation of geotechnical engineers coming in to assess if there is risk of further slips at the site.
“The slip material will then be cleared off the road when it is safe to do so.”
With its contractor, NZTA said it would continue working with local councils and civil defence officials to ensure access for emergency vehicles and critical services.
A section of SH1, south of Kaikōura near Ferniehurst, was washed away amid severe flooding earlier this week. Photo / Hurunui District Council
NZTA said it would provide another update once “more information is available”.
The agency alluded to the ongoing closure of SH1 from Cheviot to Kaikōura through the Matariki long weekend yesterday after reopening the section north of Kaikōura on Wednesday.
“We appreciate that it being school holidays and a long holiday weekend, people will be travelling around the South Island to connect with family and friends, or experience some of the snow that’s fallen in the last few days,” NZTA’s maintenance and operations regional manager Peter Brown said.
“We do ask that people travelling on the state highways plan ahead by checking for any closures or travel restrictions, such as the current closure south of Kaikōura on SH1, or any forecast weather that could bring fresh disruptions.
“As people will have seen, there has been a lot of weather impacts on the highway network recently, and there may be more in store for Otago and the Mackenzie Basin as melted snow and surface water turn to ice in the freezing conditions tonight and over the next few days.”
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.