Kaikoura finally rid of coastal road ‘cul-de-sac’
State Highway 1 has opened, with traffic again flowing – albeit with a few slow-down points – north from Kaiko¯ ura.
The section north of the coastal town had been closed since being damaged in the magnitude-7.8 earthquake in November 2016. The crucial highway reconnects the major road route between Picton and Christchurch.
Hundreds of vehicles were backed up over 2.5 kilometres at Hapuku Beach, north of Kaiko¯ ura, ahead of the reopening yesterday afternoon. Another 200 vehicles waited at the other end in Clarence, stretching 3km along the road.
Drivers waiting at Kaiko¯ura were the first to try out the rebuilt highway when they were allowed on to the route about 1.20pm.
Those waiting at Clarence hit the road slightly later to avoid both groups meeting at a one-lane section of the highway.
Among those at the Kaiko¯ ura end were motorcyclists Timothy Johnston and Matthew Cockroft, who had hoped to be the first on the new road. The pair were heading back to the North Island after a six-day road trip around the South Island by motorbike.
Johnston said they planned to do the trip last year ‘‘but the earthquake intervened’’. He said the unsealed sections of road would be ‘‘exciting’’ on the motorbikes.
At the Clarence end of the cordon, resident Linda Kitchingham was second in line behind Christchurch motorcyclist Nigel Dixon and was on her way to Kaiko¯ ura to have a coffee with her sister for the first time in 13 months.
‘‘It’s the beginning of freedom again,’’ she said.
‘‘This is the beginning of things coming back to normal. Life has been absolute hell for me here. I’ve been living at the end of a 90km cul-de-sac.’’
Workers were completing sealing work hours before the reopening in the rush to get the route ready for traffic.
The road rebuild work was not yet complete but workers had got it to the stage where it was safe for the public to drive on.
It is open from 7am to 8.30pm and contains unsealed sections, single lane sections and stop-go traffic control points. A trip from Christchurch to Picton is expected to take about 51⁄2 hours.
Dawn ceremony
Earlier, a small coastal community 22 kilometres north of