Nelson temporarily cut off as slip closes highway
It was a crazy day on the region’s roads yesterday, with State Highway 6 north of Nelson being open and then closed twice due to a slip.
The slip, on the Nelson side of the Whangamoa Saddle, about 20 kilometres north of the city, shut the road just after 10.30am.
One lane was reopened at 1.30pm, but the NZ Transport Agency announced an hour later that the road had been closed once again.
Most vehicles were stopped near the Teal Valley Rd turnoff, at the foot of the Whangamoas, when the slip was discovered, but several trucks and their drivers found themselves stranded on the hill.
Invercargill-bound truckies Shaun Harris and Amber Shepherd, of Brenics Transport, were among those stuck during the first closure.
‘‘It came through on the radio that there was a slip when I was coming through Atawhai, but I found out it was closed when I came around that last corner,’’ Harris said.
The pair said they would rather wait for the road to reopen than attempt the extended detour on an already long journey.
‘‘We’ll just sit it out – we’d be trying to turn around here, then driving back to St Arnaud and up the Wairau (Valley) before we even get to Blenheim – it’s not worth it,’’ Harris said.
Earthmoving machinery began clearing rocks and debris at 11.30am, enabling traffic to temporarily get across the Whangamoa Saddle before it was closed again due to safety concerns.
The closures meant SH6 was blocked for a time both north and south of Nelson yesterday, and came a day after a falling boulder killed a Canterbury driver just south of Murchison.
The 59-year-old man died instantly when the boulder smashed through his vehicle’s windscreen. He was one of two people in the car, travelling north on SH6 towards Murchison.
They were about 800 metres north of O’Sullivans Bridge, at the turnoff to Westport and the Buller Gorge, when the accident occurred about 1.50pm on Thursday.
‘‘It appears a rock has come loose from the rock face (and) smashed through the windscreen, killing the driver instantly,’’ Sergeant David Lauer said. The police serious crash unit is investigating.
The crash scene was further south from the recently opened stretch of highway near Glenhope, which had been closed due to slips since Sunday evening.
NZTA system manager Andrew James said abseilers and a geotechnical team were at the site yesterday to remove rock on the slopes above the highway, which reopened at 3.30pm.