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Kaikoura access: roads north, south and to west closed
Kaikoura access: roads north, south
and to west closed
State Highway 1 Kekerengu to
Clarence closed
The highway south of Kekerengu River Bridge was closed last night and this morning due to flooding. It will be reassessed at 9 am. There is no access to Clarence by road currently. The highway between Picton and Kekerengu is reduced to one lane in several places and 30km/hour speed limit.
There is significant flooding at Tirohanga and the road is closed due to flood debris at Staces culvert (near Parikawa) with debris covering the road. There are also slips south of the Clarence gates. Drivers need to take extreme care.
Waiau/ Mt
Lyford road (Route 70) remains closed
The
Transport Agency closed the inland road (Route 70) to
Kaikoura via Waiau and Mt Lyford overnight and will reassess
its safety at 9 am today. Heavy rain has pushed flood levels
at the temporary culverts at the Whale’s Back area to the
maximum capacity and rain has fallen all night. Rocks have
come down in some places overnight.
The Mason River which normally runs at 1 cubic metre per second is up to 125 cumecs earlier today at The Lottery recorder.
State Highway 1 south of Kaikoura remains
closed
State Highway 1 south of Kaikoura is
likely to remain closed today (Thursday) after high volumes
of rain caused mudslides over the past two days to block the
highway, pushing rock-filled containers over the edge of the
road. (See photo below and checkNZ Transport Agency South Island Facebook
pages for more photos)
Crews are focused on clearing the route, however the ongoing rain means clean ups are ongoing and extensive.
Please check these pages on the Transport Agency’s Traffic and Travel pages for updates on the closure and status of the highway.
Inland
dams
Kaikoura District Council and Environment
Canterbury are monitoring the inland dams (notably Linton
and Hapuku) which were formed after the earthquake and are
in touch with residents and managing evacuations.
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 Twitter
updates
• Transport Agency Facebook South Island
• Call
0800 4 HIGHWAYS 0800 44 44
49
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