SH1 set to reopen during daylight hours
KAIKOURA: State Highway 1 north of Kaikoura, which was wiped out by last year’s massive earthquake, finally reopens today after 13 months of ‘‘unprecedented’’ repair work and much to the relief of cutoff residents and businesses.
The magnitude 7.8 quake of November 14, 2016, devastated SH1, the main arterial route linking Picton and Christchurch.
The violent shaking brought down 85 landslides across the road and rail corridor.
Between 350,000 and 400,000cu m of earth came down on the 40km stretch of road between Mangamaunu and Clarence alone.
But now, after 13 months of frantic repair involving hundreds of contractors working around the clock, SH1 north of Kaikoura reopens today.
And it cannot come soon enough for residents and businesses, especially the seaside town’s tourism industry, which has been badly hit by the lack of tourist trade over the past year.
‘‘It’s going to be amazing when the road opens. It will bring heaps of people through Kaikoura,’’ Levi’s Pedal Kayaks owner Levi O’Conner said.
Clarence River Rafting used to take 1000 people a year on halfday trips down the Clarence River, but the quake brought business to a halt.
Owner Ben Judge was ‘‘defin itely looking forward to it’’ reopening, even though he added: ‘‘It’s been nice living on a deadend road. Traffic normally roars past my gate. I’ve become accustomed to the quiet.’’
While the reopening is a relief to thousands, the road will operate only during daylight hours, initially from 7am until 8.30pm.
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) is urging people to be aware of the nighttime closure hours which will apply to two sections of road just north and south of Kaikoura.
‘‘These areas will be closed overnight as a safety precaution, and people travelling on SH1 on the coastal route through the summer will need to allow enough time in their journeys to account for the 8.30pm closures,’’ NZTA earthquake recovery manager Tim Crow said.
The closure areas north of Kaikoura are between Clarence and Mangamaunu and south of Kaikoura between Goose Bay and Peketa. Both areas will reopen each day at 7am once crews have done a safety check.
Mr Crow said the closure information is being shared by the Cook Strait ferries and iSites, as well as electronic roadside signs and a checkpoint just south of Blenheim from 7pm to 6am.
Road crews at the checkpoint would help people make the right travel choices and prevent them getting stuck at the closure zone, he said. — NZME