Waka Kotahi roading contractors will be closely monitoring the State Highway network as further heavy rain is forecast to spread down the North Island.
Contractors have continued today clearing slips and debris to minimise travel disruption to the most affected roads around the upper North Island.
Regional manager of maintenance and operations Jacqui Hori-Hoult says while the objective is ensuring roads remain open and passable, there is a priority to also ensure everyone’s safety when they use those roads.
“As an example, contractors have worked hard to clear some slips and debris on SH1 at the Brynderwyns, but because there’s a very real risk of further slipping at any time, we’ve made the difficult decision to keep the stretch closed for now.
“Unfortunately even if further rainfall isn’t as intense as the weekend’s rainfall, the ground is already sodden, and so we should expect further movement.
‘In many places there may be road works, with lower speeds in place or stop / go controls.
“Meanwhile, SH25A in the Coromandel will be closed for quite some time. Plans are being worked on for a longer term solution, but that solution will require drier, warmer weather.
“Metservice has issued a red warning for both Northland and Coromandel, which unfortunately may cause further disruption to the transport network. Contractors will do their best to keep roads open and minimise that impact, however short notice closures may need to take place.
MetService weather warnings(external link)
“If you can avoid travel, please stay home. 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 Ms Hori-Hoult.
For a fuller list of current closures, please visit our Journey Planner or traffic bulletin:
Waka Kotahi Journey Planner(external link)
North Island roading update (traffic bulletin)(external link)
Waka Kotahi is providing regular updates to the public as the severe weather continues to affect Aotearoa this week. Our 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.
