State Highway 1 south of Kaikoura was closed around 1 pm *, Easter Saturday, after a fresh slip north of an old slip site at Rosy Morn, brought down several thousand cubic metres of material. The new, large slip is around 3 km southwest of Peketa.
The highway was reopened after heavy rain yesterday between 3 and 6 pm and reopened again this morning.
The inland road to Kaikoura, Route 70, via Waiau and Mt Lyford, remains open 24/7.
Given the amount of material in this latest highway slip, the southern access may well be closed for two days or more, highway managers say.
People should check the Transport Agency’s traffic and travel pages for updates before they head to Kaikoura over Easter, says Steve Mutton, NZ Transport Agency Earthquake Recovery Manager.
“There are electronic signs at Waipara advising if the state highway route is closed and another sign north of Cheviot. If people make it to Cheviot and find the state highway is closed, they can take the Leader Road to reconnect with the inland road via Waiau.”
The state highway remains fragile and will be prone to short term closures for some time.
*Update Sunday 16 April at 1.42pm
Yesterday at around 1.00pm there was a sizeable slip about 200 metres north of Rosy Morn (a stream, also the site of a large, September 2010 earthquake-generated slip) on SH1, just south of Peketa. The photo below is hard to see, but the hillside has essentially dropped onto the road – it is about 100 metres long.
Today helicopters will be sluicing the slip higher up and once deemed safe, crews with trucks and diggers will start clearing the material. This is likely to be on Easter Monday. The road is likely to remain shut to the public for the next two days with updates on NZTA - traffic and travel pages(external link).
Please check this map for updates(external link).
Ways to find out what is happening on the highway network:
Easter travel advice here.(external link)
