Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency advises that State Highway 25 between Hikuai and Opoutere will open to one lane this evening to allow light vehicle access over the weekend, after an underslip took out part of the road earlier in the week.
The road will open from 8pm tonight (Friday 10 March), and will remain open until 9am Monday 13 March. Travel through the site will be under stop/go traffic management with the potential for periods of stop/stop or full closure for maintenance on the temporary pavement.
Waka Kotahi reminds road users that contractors are still currently on site behind the corridor working to make the road safe for weekend travel, and that access through the work site will not be possible before 8pm.
Please respect our traffic control workers – they are not able to allow drivers past the closure points until work has been completed for the day and the road is safe to drive on.
People are urged to check the Waka Kotahi Journey Planner(external link) before they travel, and be prepared that we may have to close the road at any point if there is additional cracking or damage.
Journey Planner(external link)
Waka Kotahi System Manager for the Waikato Cara Lauder says contractors are working quickly to make this stretch of state highway safe for regular use again.
“We’re working as fast as possible to give road users a safe way through. We appreciate how frustrating this latest disruption is for people in the Coromandel. Emergency response works have been underway all week and geotechnical investigations have now started to help plan for a permanent fix for the section to help plan for a permanent fix for the section of the highway that has fallen away. We’ll keep everyone updated as soon as a solution has been determined, but in the meantime, we are very much focused on the short-term fix and keeping at least one lane safely open,” Ms Lauder says.
Contractors are making good progress on site. As the video below shows, arborists have removed vegetation to allow a digger to increase the width and length of cut into the bank in order to keep traffic as far away from the underslip as possible.
Watch the video(external link)
Waka Kotahi is also working directly with local schools to confirm plans around school runs, and we will provide an update on Sunday for the week ahead on our social media channels.
