The NZ Transport Agency has three consecutive late night Lyttelton Tunnel closures coming up. These are on Sunday, 24 February, between 11pm and 4am, and also Monday and Tuesday nights, 25 and 26 February.

The closures are necessary to install and carry out essential testing of a new $29 million fire protection system in the tunnel.

The tunnel will open to traffic for 10 minutes on the hour each of these nights. Outside of these times, only emergency vehicle access will be available.

“Work on the project will be completed in April,” says Transport Agency Senior Project Manager Chris Collins. “Once operating, the fire protection system will improve safety for tunnel travellers on a route that’s an economic life-line for Christchurch and the wider Canterbury region linking to the Port of Lyttelton.

“Installing the new fire protection system often involves working in confined spaces. Single and full tunnel traffic lane closures are critical to successfully completing this important project. To minimise their impact, they are timed for late at night and in the early hours of the morning when tunnel traffic is at its lightest.”

• A 90-day schedule for single and full-lane closures is updated monthly and can be viewed at https://nzta.govt.nz/assets/projects/lyttelton-tunnel/lyttelton-tunnel-lane-closure-for-february-to-march-2019.pdf
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• Latest newsletter on the tunnel fire safety project: https://nzta.govt.nz/assets/projects/lyttelton-tunnel/lyttelton-tunnel-fire-protection-upgrade-newsletter-201902.pdf
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• Questions and queries about the closures can be made by emailing lytteltontunnel@mcdgroup.com or calling 0508 62326667.
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Plan ahead for a safe, enjoyable journey this summer. Keep up to date with:

• Traffic updates: nzta.govt.nz/traffic

• Facebook: facebook.com/NZTAsouthisland
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• Twitter Canterbury/West Coast: twitter.com/NZTACWC
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• Journey planner: journeys.nzta.govt.nz
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• Phone: 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49)
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