Port Hills Fire, Thursday 2 March

Media Update – 10.45am

Dyers Pass Road staged reopening Saturday

· Dyers Pass Road through to Governors Bay is reopening to traffic on Saturday 4 March from 6am to 7pm. The road will be closed and cordons enforced overnight. The last cars allowed up Dyers Pass Road will be at 7pm.

· The staged opening hours of 6am to 7pm on Dyers Pass Road will continue until further advised.

· We appreciate that there will be a lot of interest from the public wanting to view the damage to Dyers Pass Road over the weekend but we are asking that people refrain from coming up, leaving this road free for commuter traffic and fire operations crew.

· There is no vehicle parking anywhere along Dyers Pass Road, including the carpark at Sign of the Kiwi, and no public access to either side of Summit Road from Dyers Pass Road. This area remains within the operational fire zone and as such access is restricted.

· A temporary speed restriction of 50km/h is in place for Dyers Pass Road from Victoria Park to Sign of the Kiwi. Signage has been erected to indicate the new speed zone which will remain in place until further advised.

· The Sign of the Kiwi café is currently closed.

· There is no access to Victoria Park walking or cycling tracks at this time, including Harry Ell track. Tracks are barricaded as sections of these remain within the operational fire zone.

· There is no public access to the Christchurch Adventure Park. The adventure park remains within the operational fire area and as such access is restricted.

· Under the Forest and Rural Fires Act 1977 (FRFA), rural fire continue to have the power to exercise immediate road closures of Dyers Pass Road if required due to fire risk.

· Other road closures may also be actioned if required due to other hazards flooding, rockfall, dangerous trees etc.

· Geotechnical assessments have been carried out along Dyers Pass Road after rain this week caused some rocks to fall. Rockfall risk is low but geotechnical engineers will continue to monitor the situation.

· View the work that Treetech has been carrying out along Dyers Pass Road removing a large number of burnt and unstable trees which were at risk of falling onto the road.

· Contractors have also been working to repair damaged marker posts and road barriers.

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