The road has been closed for a month after significant damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and another lot of heavy rainfall at the end of February saw more of the road fall away. This week the road reopened to essential freight convoys, to the excitement of locals who live along the road.
Announcing the reopening on social media, Transport Minister Michael Wood said: “the road is safe to use, but there is still a lot of work to get a long-term fix …
The road doesn’t look like before, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency warned. There were 32 damaged sites “ranging from minor dropouts to significant underslips and washouts”.
The road will close at night from 7pm to 7am for safety reasons.
The road may need to close again, because it is still fragile. On top of that, there will be multiple single-day closures over the next two weeks as part of the repair process.
There would be a police presence on the road for safety.
Credit: stuff.co.nz
