Night closure, 13 December, for State Highway 1 south of Kaikōura

The NZ Transport Agency has scheduled a night time closure south of Kaikōura on Thursday, 13 December, in order to remove the scaffold tunnel near the Paratitahi Tunnels.

State Highway 1 between Peketa and immediately south of the Raramai Tunnels will be closed from 9pm on 13 December to 6.30am on 14 December.

However, to minimise the disruption to travellers and freight road users, crews will re-open the road every 90 minutes for 30 minutes during the night closure.

Road closure times Road open times
9pm – 10.30pm 10.30pm – 11pm
11pm – 12.30am 12.30am – 1am
1am – 2.30am 2.30am – 3am
3am – 4.30am 4.30am - 5am
5am - 6.30am 6.30am fully opened

The night closure is essential to carry out the work safely says Tresca Forrester, Network Operations Manager for North Canterbury Transport Infrastructure Recovery (NCTIR).

“We understand that this closure will have an impact on the community and road users, which is why we will re-open it every 90 minutes for any waiting traffic,” she says.

“State Highway 1 north of Kaikōura and the Inland Road (Route 70 via Waiau) will remain open unless there are further weather events or other reasons for closures.

“While the road is closed, and within the road closure, the team will also mill a nearby rock on a tight bend that is overhanging the road. This milling will help with clearance for larger vehicles.

“We are all committed to getting this highway safely rebuilt and making the coastline as safe and resilient as possible”.

Once the shelter is removed, this will enable the team to finish off slope work and aim to have the twin Paratitahi road tunnels open before Christmas.

If it rains this work will move to the next dry night eg Friday night 14 December.
Things can change at short notice so please check real-time travel information:

• Visit www.nzta.govt.nz/p2c or call 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49)
Plan ahead for a safe, enjoyable journey this summer. Keep up to date with:
• Traffic updates: nzta.govt.nz/traffic
• Facebook: facebook.com/NZTAsouthisland
• Twitter Canterbury/ West Coast: twitter.com/NZTACWC
• Twitter Top of the South: twitter.com/NZTATotS
• Journey planner: journeys.nzta.govt.nz
• Phone: 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49)

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