State Highway 6, between Haast and Makarora, reopened to single-lane traffic at noon yesterday following its closure at the weekend when 20,000 tonnes of rock and gravel fell on to the highway at Diana Falls.
New Zealand Transport Agency West Coast area manager Mark Pinner said contractors had worked tirelessly for the past three days to clear the road and reinstate single-lane access. The road would continue to be closed from 6pm to 8am as a safety precaution.
''Unfortunately, there is no immediate engineering solution to resolve the issues being created by heavy rain falling on the slip face and feeding the waterfalls which are running across the slip face,'' Mr Pinner said.
''This is resulting in continued uncertainty with route access along this section of State Highway 6 and is expected to do so for at least the short term, particularly when there is heavy rain in the area.''
Further disruptions to travel were possible later this week because of rain forecast in the next couple of days.
Technical experts were undertaking a review of the site and further engineering investigations were being done to better understand what was happening at the site and to determine viable options for a long-term solution, Mr Pinner said.
