Heavy snow, gales cause traffic chaos

A Passenger Transport bus which skidded in the snow on Brockville Rd, Dunedin, on Saturday...
A Passenger Transport bus which skidded in the snow on Brockville Rd, Dunedin, on Saturday morning. Photo by Linda Robertson.
The icy blast which swept up the country on Saturday caused traffic chaos, closing roads, skifields and airports in Otago.

Snow which fell to low levels and settled on roads around Otago had mainly melted by late yesterday as the wintry blast which brought snow, gales and rain to the region on Saturday cleared.

Up to 40cm of snow fell in Queenstown, producing near white-out conditions that closed the airport and skifields on Saturday.

Iced-over roads resulted in several non-injury crashes, including one involving a bus which was steered into a bank by its driver when it started sliding down a steep hill. Twenty Korean tourists were trapped in the stranded bus for about 45 minutes.

Residents of Dunedin's hill suburbs woke to about 10cm of snow on Saturday, and the day brought rain, snow and sleet.

Police were kept busy dealing with snow-covered roads, while firefighters dealt with minor wind and rain-related incidents. Emergency services rushed to Brockville Rd when a bus skidded into a kerb.

Senior Sergeant Craig Brown said there were no major problems in the city.

State Highway 1 from Dunedin over the Northern Motorway to Waitati was closed for 24 hours from 8am on Saturday as two snowploughs struggled to keep the road clear of snow.

While experienced drivers using chains could have got through, blizzard-like conditions reduced visibility to near zero at times, meaning it was safer for Transit to keep the road closed, regional network manager Murray Clarke said.

Three truck-and-trailer units - including one that had jack-knifed - were left stranded at the Leith Saddle overnight after they slid off the highway in snow on Saturday morning, he said. The road reopened at 8am yesterday.

Richard Brunton, operations manager of Brenics Transport Ltd, said a Brenics driver and his truck, bound for Oamaru, joined others waiting in a queue at the bottom of the Northern motorway out of Dunedin for most of Saturday before the driver spent the night at a Dunedin hotel. However, the company expected the highway to be closed at least twice a year, he said.

The snow in Otago closed roads on Friday night in the Maniototo, Central Otago, Queenstown, and northern Southland, along with the Milford Rd between Te Anau and Milford. The Milford Rd reopened at 11am yesterday.

Many roads remained closed on Saturday and chains were essential on high roads after more snow fell, accompanied by gale-force southerlies.

State Highway 87 between Outram and Middlemarch remained closed for much of yesterday, reopening at 5.30pm but Alexandra, Cromwell and Wanaka avoided the worst of the southerly storm.

Many central North Island roads were closed on Saturday, with police reporting extremely hazardous driving conditions in the Wanganui and Manawatu areas.

Heavy snow remained on both the Desert Rd and National Park sides of Mt Ruapehu yesterday afternoon, blocking the main access route through the central North Island.

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