Two highway updates: Lewis Pass closure serious crash this morning, Akaroa Highway closure 11 am bus recovery

A serious crash one kilometre south of Shenandoah, State Highway 65, south of Murchison, the alternate state highway route between Picton and Christchurch, has closed the highway at that point this morning.

Please check the updates on our traffic and travel map, also for the closed or open status. This is likely to be closed for a number of hours.

The alternate route is to use State Highway 69 via Inangahua and Reefton. Motorists should allow for an extra 1.5 hours in the drive time.

Temporary closure for bus recovery
The Christchurch-Akaroa Rd (State Highway 75) will be closed at 11am today for about two hours to recover the bus from yesterday’s car and bus crash. There will two detours in place:

• Heading to Akaroa from Christchurch: Summit Road and Pigeon Bay Road
• Heading to Christchurch from Akaroa: – Okains Bay Road and Summit Road.

“Please allow an extra 30 minutes for the detour,” says Lee Wright, NZ Transport Agency Journey Manager.

There is a small cruise ship in Akaroa harbour today so people should be aware there will be buses on the highway before 11 am and after 3 pm.

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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