Roading contractors throughout Manawatū-Whanganui and Taranaki will be monitoring our local State Highway network as heavy rainfall is forecast.
Metservice is expecting the wet weather which has targeted upper North Island in recent days to spread further down the North Island from tonight, with possible thunderstorms and downpours in Manawatū-Whanganui and heavy rain in Taranaki.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency system manager for Manawatū-Whanganui and Taranaki Rob Service says as of early afternoon, all roads on the local State Highway network are open, but motorists need to be prepared.
“SH43 between Taumarunui and Stratford had to close over the weekend, following a large drop out. That road’s now open and down to one lane, but it shows people need to be prepared for delays to travel and the potential for areas to be under temporary speed limits if they get damaged.”
“Of course our priority will always be the safety of road users and our contractors. We want to minimise disruption to travel but we will also need to put measures in place, and often at short notice, if there’s debris, flooding or slips on sections of the network.
“Our priority remains ensuring delays on our network are minimised and that conditions are safe for road users and contractors at these sites. That means in many places, there may be road workers out with lower speeds in place or stop / go controls.
“If you’re driving in the forecast heavy rainfall, please drive to the conditions, which means keeping a safe following distance and dropping your speed and watch for flooding and other debris on the road,” says Mr Service.
“Please allow more time for your trips at the moment and be courteous to other road users.”
Waka Kotahi is providing regular updates to the public as the severe weather continues to affect Aotearoa this week. Our Journey Planner page is updated by our traffic operations centres 24/7 to provide the latest available information on state highway closures and disruptions. Remember to refresh the page when checking the status of highways to ensure the latest updates are displayed.
