Investigations are continuing in an effort to understand the extent of the cracks that appeared on State Highway 25A (SH25A) last week. The results of geotechnical monitoring and investigations will help inform decision-making for the future repair of the road.
With consecutive long weekends coming up, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency can confirm that the current traffic management arrangement will remain in place for the foreseeable future, including over the long weekend periods.
While this may be disruptive for some locals and those travelling on holiday, planning ahead will help everyone get to their destination, says Cara Lauder, Waikato System Manager at Waka Kotahi.
“Over the past week we have had the road open between 7am and 7pm, and closed overnight. This is to ensure the safety of road users passing through an area that is still seeing active movement. For the safety of our crews and road users we will continue with this for the foreseeable future.
“This will mean that travellers heading for the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula, especially those leaving larger cities such as Auckland and Hamilton, will need to carefully plan their leaving time. There may be factors outside our control, such as incidents on other parts of the state highway network, that affect predicted journey times.
The site is being monitored daily and boreholes are being drilled to understand the full nature of the movement. New cracks are appearing, including in the eastbound lane available for traffic during the day.
“We have seen the road deform over the past week as the site continues to move,” says Ms Lauder. “This is being managed by our contractor on site, however with rain predicted over the weekend and into next week we could see this reach a point where the road needs to be closed. This would be the last resort, however the need to keep everyone safe will drive our decision-making.
“Road users can get ahead by using the Holiday Journeys information to plan their journey, and our Journey Planner is a great tool to check if anything has changed on the day.
Holiday Journeys(external link)
“We have had reports that crews at the closure points have been subjected to abuse and threatening behaviour over the past week. This is unacceptable; the closure is not of their making, and they’re working hard to keep everyone moving while experts determine the best repair methodology long term.”
