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.
- The inland road, Route 70 via Waiau and Mt Lyford, is open 24/7.
- When it is open, the state highway to the south of Kaikoura is open daylight hours only, 7 am to 6pm.
*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 .
- People heading to and from Kaikoura should take the inland road via Culverden, Waiau and Mt Lyford which is open 24/7.
Please check this map for updates .
Ways to find out what is happening on the highway network:
- NZ Transport Agency's travel and traffic page here.
- Transport Agency Canterbury West Coast or Otago/ Southland Twitter updates
- Transport Agency Facebook South Island
- Call 0800 4 HIGHWAYS 0800 44 44 49
Easter travel advicehere.
Please check this map for updates .
Ways to find out what is happening on the highway network:
NZ Transport Agency's travel and traffic page here.Transport Agency Canterbury West Coast or Otago/ Southland Twitter updatesTransport Agency Facebook South IslandCall 0800 4 HIGHWAYS 0800 44 44 49
Easter travel advice here.