The opening hours for State Highway 1 south of Kaikoura will be reduced by an hour from tomorrow (Saturday 11 March).
From tomorrow, the highway from Peketa to Oaro will open an hour later at 7am and continue to close at 8pm at this stage.
“The change in sunrise hours at this time of year makes it more difficult for our contractors to see what is happening on the slip faces above the road in the early morning hours. In order to keep contractors and people travelling on the route safe we need to open the road a little later,” says Transport Agency Regional Performance Manager Pete Connors.
Mr Connors says crews are making good progress on work to fully restore State Highway 1 south of Kaikoura, but he reminded people that the road was subject to close at short notice in response to continuing seismic activity and weather events.
Drivers wanting to head to or from Kaikoura when SH1 is closed should use the Inland Road (Route 70), remembering that the journey between Waiau and Kaikoura is a slow one, 30 km/h speed restrictions are in place in many places, with several work sites along the way.
Ways to find out what is happening on the highway network:
