Last of quake damaged state highways set to open tomorrow night

The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) says the last remaining Canterbury highway closed by last Saturday’s earthquake is on track to open tomorrow night.

State Highway 74, a key route into the Port of Lyttelton has been closed for six days while road foundations damaged by the quake have been repaired.

NZTA’s North Canterbury area manager Barry Stratton says the work has gone well and the highway is expected to open tomorrow night, although the section of highway between Bridge Street and Metro Place will remain closed to allow the Christchurch City Council to replace a quake damaged water pipe under the highway that services the city’s sewage treatment plant. It is not known how long this work will take to complete. The detour route for this section of highway will be via Breezes, Cuthberts and Maces roads.

Mr Stratton says the Chaney’s Road on-ramp on to State Highway 1 north of Christchurch is still on track to re-open by Saturday night.

State Highway 77 in Mid Canterbury is open with a two kilometre signposted detour from Glentunnel to Glenroy, where there is substantial subsidence in the road. This detour will remain in place for some time with permanent repairs to commence next week.

Up to dated information Canterbury state highways including the Lyttelton Tunnel can be found at www.highwayinfo.govt.nz or by phoning 0800 44 44 49.

For further information on the situation on the ground in Christchurch visit the council’s earthquake information page at http://canterburyearthquake.org.nz/ or http://www.metroinfo.co.nz/ .

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