On Monday night 28 May, State Highway 1 (SH1) south of Kaikōura will close overnight for essential work.
Tresca Forrester, Network Operations Manager for the North Canterbury Transport Infrastructure Recovery (NCTIR) alliance, says that this short closure is needed to carry out work that can’t be completed safely while the road is open.
“A temporary wall of 40 shipping containers and concrete blocks was established at three locations south of Kaikōura, near Paratitahi Tunnels, in the early stages of the recovery, to protect road users from rockfall. Crews have been working on widening the southbound tunnel at this location. To enable us to complete the northbound tunnel, the containers need to be removed, then we can complete widening work.”
The highway, between Peketa and SH1/Leader Road intersection, will close at 10pm on Monday 28 May and reopen on Tuesday 29 May at 6.30am. A series of HIAB trucks with cranes will move the containers with 16 expected to be removed in one night.
“We’re pleased that our tunnel resilience work in this area is progressing which takes us another step closer to completing work. But the full rebuild of the highway is still underway which means that essential work will, at times, require road closures as safety for road users is our top priority.”
More night closures to come
Further night closures are being planned for late June to remove the final containers and 200-300 concrete blocks that have also been serving as rockfall protectors.
Closure dates will be publicised as soon as they are confirmed to give as much notice as possible to drivers and the community.
People can stay up-to-date on real-time travel information through www.nzta.govt.nz/p2c(external link) or by calling 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49) and allowing plenty of time for their trip. We recommend checking at least two hours before travel through Kaikōura and at key points on the route.
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