Traffic access to flood-damaged State Highway 6 between Makarora and Lake Hāwea in Central Otago is being significantly expanded following extensive roadworks.

A section of the highway, which provides a link from the West Coast, was closed on August 28 following heavy rain and snow that caused multiple and ongoing hazards.

To date, access has been managed by the NZ Transport Agency/ Waka Kotahi via daily escorted convoys on weekdays and daytime openings to continuous traffic at weekends.

Significant progress to repair the area has been made and the route would now be open to continuous traffic 24-7 from Friday evening until Monday morning, and weeknights after that, the agency advised. 

“We’ve continued to see further slips and rockfalls happening on the road right up until the last few days,” area manager for the lower South Island, Chris Harris, said.

“However, we’ve had abseilers and crews working hard this week to clear unstable rock and debris at various sites of concern that we’ve identified, which gives us a lot more confidence that we can safely increase access to the road.”

Weather dependent, from 5.30pm on Friday, SH6 between Makarora and Hāwea would reopen to continuous traffic (without convoys) and stay open until 8am on Monday.

Temporary reduced speed limits would be in place and road users must stop on demand where the highway was down to a single lane.

Next week, the road would be open nightly to continuous traffic (without convoys) from 5.30pm to 8am on weekdays. Between 8am and 5.30pm on weekdays, the road would close again, but with escorted convoys operating three times daily. 

“From Monday, the closure area that will be back in effect during daytime hours on weekdays will also start to shrink,” Mr Harris said.

“Initially the closure and convoys will be between Makarora to the north and the SH6 intersection with Meads Road, near The Neck, to the south. On Tuesday, we expect it to shrink further, to be between Wharf Creek to the north and the Meads Road intersection.”

Daytime restrictions and escorted convoys were still necessary, Mr Harris said.

“There is still plenty of work to do, and we can do it a lot faster and more safely without constant traffic on the road.

"We have somewhere around 80,000 cubic metres of rock, gravel, vegetation and other debris that has been cleared off the highway and stockpiled at the roadside. This must be trucked out and disposed of at suitable, approved locations.”

More work to clear unstable rock at further sites was also needed, and this could potentially pose risks, he said.

“Next week we will be in a much better position to share when the road will be reopened 24-7, but even after that there will be some lesser traffic management remaining, such as reduced speed limits or single lanes in places, as we continue the recovery work.”

Convoy schedule

The currently scheduled departure and return times for the convoys on weekdays next week are as follows:

Monday 

Convoy 1 departs from the SH6 intersection with Meads Road heading north at 10am, then returns from Makarora village heading south at 10.20am

Convoy 2 departs from the SH6 intersection with Meads Road heading north at 12pm, then returns south from Makarora village at 12.20pm.

Convoy 3 departs from the SH6 intersection with Meads Road heading north at 2pm, then returns south from Makarora village at 2.20pm.

Tuesday onwards:

Convoy 1 departs from the SH6 intersection with Meads Road heading north at 10am, then returns south from Wharf Creek at 10.20am

Convoy 2 departs from the SH6 intersection with Meads Road heading north at 12pm, then returns south from Wharf Creek at 12.20pm.

Convoy 3 departs from the SH6 intersection with Meads Road heading north at 2pm, then returns south from Wharf Creek at 2.20pm.

- Allied Media