Milford Road set to reopen

The Milford Road will reopen to all traffic tomorrow, six weeks after it was badly damaged due to flooding and landslides.

New Zealand Transport Agency journey manager Peter Brown announced yesterday that the agency was opening State Highway 94 into Milford Sound Piopiotahi from tomorrow, ending scheduled highway convoys, restrictions on types of vehicles and open and shut hours. Convoys would continue today.

The road was closed after a state of emergency was declared in Fiordland after flooding cut off the only road out of Milford Sound, leaving nearly 200 tourists stranded in the Sound for two nights early in February.

It was opened to convoys of tourist buses and essential-service vehicles later in February, but private cars and campervans were unable to access the tourist destination.

Brown said when the road reopened there would be a short stretch of highway on the east side of the Homer Tunnel from the Hollyford turnoff which would have stop/go traffic management and singlelane sections requiring care.

Brown said given the potential lack of overseas visitors with the current Covid-19 concerns, easy access to regional holiday places such as Milford Sound was all the more important.

‘‘Milford Sound and wider Fiordland are open and if people are planning their upcoming school holidays after April 9 or Easter break, they can factor this choice in,’’ he said.

The highway will reopen at 8am.