The NZ Transport Agency and local Northland contractors have worked around the clock to re-establish the State Highway 1 transport link severed by last week’s storms.
The Transport Agency and it local contractors, Fulton Hogan and Opus, have been working around the clock with a singular focus on re-opening this lifeline for the region.
“These hard-working men and women have effectively built a new 100 metre section of highway from scratch in less than a week, and they’ve done it working in very challenging conditions,” says transport minister Gerry Brownlee.
But now a second major slip has occurred on the Brynderwyn Hills which Graeme MacDonald, spokesman for the Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Group, expects to take up to a week to repair.
MacDonald says it is unfortunate that the 10-metre-long section of hill that collapsed under the highway on the Brynderwyns, is unlike the major SH1 underslip south of Kawakawa which was successfully reopened on Friday night – and there’s no room on the Brynderwyns for road crews to build a detour around the collapsed section.
That means traffic – including freight transport – now faces new detours on the main route into the region; north-bound traffic is being diverted to SH12 through Paparoa and Oakleigh, and south-bound via Waipu and Mangawhai.
The detours are likely to add anywhere up to 45 minutes to journeys and as with other similar detour routes, care and consideration is needed. Given they could be used for a number of days, authorities would also be making regular checks to ensure the alternate roads are actively managed and coping with the additional loading.
“One positive is that the showery conditions forecast for the next few days are not expected to cause any new weather-related problems,” Macdonald notes.
Information about local district council road and State Highway closures/issues in Northland will continue to be available from the Automobile Association website by clicking here or the NZTA website by clicking here.
