From P1 // Residents seek to find a way out

There would be 100 to 150 workers over the five sites doing flood repairs, plus extra workers doing the maintenance and resilience work rescheduled to take advantage of the closure.

Crews would be onsite seven days a week, and there would be some work at night, subject to resources, programming and health and safety of crews.

Waka Kotahi acknowledged the considerable disruption caused for residents and businesses in the wider area but the highway was in a very fragile state and the repairs were critical, Owen said.

‘‘If there were to be another significant flood, the route could be shut down entirely for months, not weeks. For the sake of the local community and regular users of the road, this is a risk we can’t afford to take. It is why we have chosen to do a seven-week closure to get the repairs done as quickly as possible.’’

The closure also meant the highway could reopen in time for the busy Christmas period. The alternate route from Blenheim to Nelson was on State Highway 63 through to Kawatiri Junction, then SH6. Waka Kotahi recommended motorists stay on the highways rather than local roads which were not well suited to all vehicles and higher traffic volumes.