Summer highway repair and sealing works start on State Highway 1 between Picton and Christchurch from 11 October 2021, with some night-time closures, says Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.
“With the major Kaikōura earthquake rebuild and complex resilience work completed, Waka Kotahi’s maintenance crews have a full programme of road rehabilitation to get underway leading into Christmas,” says Tresca Forrester, Journey Manager for Waka Kotahi.
“This work had to wait until the hill rockfall containment and safety work was sufficiently stabilised and all heavy vehicle activity at those sites was complete. Doing the work at night will help minimise the impact upon road users.”
Weld Pass night closures, moving south to North Canterbury
The work on SH1 south of Blenheim, through the Weld Pass, will get underway on Monday, 11 October 2021, involving night closures from 7pm - 6am for five nights, and opening on the hour every hour to let traffic through.
Crews will move south to Kekerengu and Mororimu North, north of Kaikōura leading into Labour Weekend, the Canopy and Punchbowl sites south of Kaikōura after Labour Weekend and North Canterbury sites at Omihi and Pukeko Junction mid November.
“We will avoid highway work during Labour Weekend (23-25 October 2021) and the Marlborough Anniversary weekend (30 October – 1 November 2021) which are traditionally big weekends for Kaikōura and Marlborough,” says Ms Forrester.
“We understand the pressure our work sites have on the freight and supply chain and we will continue to work closely with them through this time and thank them for their patience.”
Further works will continue across State Highway 1 in the New Year, with further information to come early 2022.
Ms Forrester urged people to take care around road crews along this frequently narrow and winding route south of Picton to Christchurch.
Map showing location of works between Christchurch and Picton.
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