Highways in top of the south remain closed
The flood and slip-damaged main highway between Nelson and Blenheim could reopen next Wednesday, with a number of restrictions.
Waka Kotahi transport systems manager for top of the south Andrew James said Waka Kotahi was ‘‘optimistic’’ that SH6 between Havelock and Rai Valley could be re-opened by Tuesday morning August 30, and the entire SH6 route between Nelson and Blenheim the following morning.
‘‘The damage to these roads from the severe weather has been significant, and when they do reopen there will be temporary speed restrictions, lane closures and traffic management in place at several locations, so please factor in longer journey times and delays when planning travel,’’ he said.
He said ‘‘considerable progress’’ had been made already, but there was a lot of work to be done before the road would be able to open without restrictions, and there would likely be temporary full road closures in several weeks’ time to enable that work to be completed.
‘‘We will provide more information when further assessments have been carried out and we have more details to share.’’
State Highway 63 between Renwick and Saint Arnaud remains closed, with the aim of reopening with restrictions in the week starting September 12.
The northern closure point has now moved to Leatham Rd. However, the highway remained closed between Leatham Rd and Saint Arnaud. Efforts were underway to divert the river away from the abutment at the washed-out Branch River Bridge.
A contractor helping to repair roads on the Whangamoa Saddle says there are too many slips to count on the hilly section of the highway between Nelson and Blenheim.
Allan Hoult said he was working on repairing damaged barriers on the State Highway 6 saddle, and had seen ‘‘significant slips’’.
‘‘I lost count going over ... between 30 and 50 slips of varying sizes. A lot of those small ones that will take five minutes to clear – others are more significant.’’
He said a number of barriers had been hit by flood debris, and there was a lot of other damage.
‘‘The destruction on the side of some of those roads – the barriers are hanging in mid-air. It’s going to take a lot of technical work to get things back up and running.’’
Waka Kotahi has closed the highway between Hira and Havelock because of flood and slip damage from four days of heavy rain last week. It says the highway, and the alternative SH63 route between Nelson and Blenheim, will not reopen before next week.
Access between Rai Valley and Havelock is open to essential services only. The road from Havelock to Blenheim is open, but drivers should plan for delays with traffic management, temporary speed restrictions and damaged sections of the road.