Motorists have been ignoring road closures, risking ‘‘injury and loss of insurance’’, says the Waitaki District Council.
Council network operations engineer Mark Renalson said council staff had observed drivers on Weston-Ngapara Rd, pedestrians accessing the closed Humber St bridge and had received reports of trucks on the closed Domain Rd Bridge in Dunback.
The closed roads were being repaired as quickly aspossible in accordance with levels of priority and he asked for patience, in a statement yesterday.
The council’s website lists 23 roads closed due to flooding or damage from last week’s storm.
Also, roads in the Waitaki district are not as damaged as first feared, the Waitaki District Council says.
An ‘‘extensive assessment of roads’’ on Monday showed ‘‘a lot of [the damage] is superficialwith debris, small slips and gravel to be cleared’’, a statement released yesterday said.
Two bridges in the district, at Humber St and Otiake, received ‘‘considerably more damage’’ and would take longer to reopen.
The statement also noted coastal erosion near Orere Point at Waianakarua Rd had reduced the road to one lane in the Orere Point area. A 30kmh speed limit was in place.
