Road access a ‘priority’, minister says

The flooding that severed routes to the lower South Island has brought the need for a second bridge along the Ashburton River into focus, the Minister of Transport says.

After record rain and resulting flooding in Canterbury wreaked havoc on southern delivery routes, calls intensified for a second bridge on the river.

Transport Minister Michael Wood said yesterday he was following the issue.

"It’s a priority that we have resilient access for the people of Ashburton and the wider region," he said.

"We need to work with the region to make sure we invest in the right options to make that happen."

The flood-damaged Ashburton River bridge, on State Highway1, remained closed to heavy traffic yesterday after reopening to light vehicles.

Federated Farmers Mid Canterbury president David Clark said it was time for politicians to "stop arguing" and get on with it.

"It’s time for central government to get on and fund a second road link or a modern road link through the centre of the South Island," he said.

An NZ Transport Agency spokeswoman said the Ashburton District Council, with funding and support from the agency, was continuing its work on a detailed business case to look at a second bridge crossing of the river.

After the business case was completed, the bridge was expected to be considered for funding in the next National Land Transport Plan (2021-24).

Although land had been designated by the council for the new bridge location, the preferred location was still to be finalised, she said.

"The recent weather events will inform investment decision-making," the spokeswoman said.

The lower South Island became largely cut off from Canterbury after the weekend deluge and many supermarket shelves across the South were stripped by shoppers on Tuesday as trucks could not get through.

The Ashburton bridge was closed on Tuesday morning after motorists reported slumping.

Although the bridge was reopened to two-way light traffic restricted to 30kmh on Tuesday night, it was closed again last night from 6pm to 8pm, for pier stress testing, NZTA system manager Pete Connors said.

The bridge later reopened to light traffic.

The NZTA said as of 10.15am today more vehicles were allowed to cross the bridge, including 50MAX and high productivity permitted motor vehicles (HPMV).

Those heavier vehicles will be allowed access between 7am and 7pm for the first week, from today.

However, no overweight permitted vehicles are allowed on the bridge.

Any trucks with an overweight permit will need to take the alternate routes on local roads to get south of Ashburton, the NZTA said.

“The pier testing yesterday, using heavily-laden trucks, showed negligible movement, indicating that the pier has stabilised and the structure is robust,” Mr Connors said.

“We still need to take it one step at a time however, particularly as the debris is being removed from underneath the bridge.

“We need to keep monitoring the bridge deck and the pier for any movement  during the day. This means that we need to restrict truck movements to between 7 am and 7 pm for the next week."

After the bridge has been used for a week we will reassess the restrictions, he said.

The walkways down each side of the bridge will also be reopened for pedestrians and cyclists also from 10.15 am today. 

hamish.maclean@odt.co.nz