A refrigerated truck, heading south on State Highway 1 at 3am, struck ice at the Thames-Coquet St intersection and hit the lights.
The driver was not injured.
It would take about a week to replace the light and a traffic management plan was being set up to cope until then, New Zealand Transport Agency Otago-Southland operations manager Murray Clarke said.
Pedestrians should use other crossings or take care to cross when there was no traffic, he said.
Senior Constable Bruce Dow, who has been a police officer in the town for 32 years, said ice on the road was a rare occurrence.
Last Friday, he skidded on ice at the intersection by New Zealand Post and he did not think he had seen that intersection frozen before.
Whitestone Contracting Ltd spread grit on lower Thames St yesterday which was "reasonably rare", a spokesman said.
The road was affected by black ice after rain on Sunday froze in a heavy frost.
The temperature was still below zero when people were going to work.
In a statement, the Waitaki District Council said police, NZTA, Fulton Hogan and the council were working together to ensure the intersection was as safe as possible.
Motorists were asked to note that state highway traffic had priority over side road traffic which would be controlled by temporary signage.
Under the temporary traffic management plan, some vehicle movements would be limited and motorists were asked to use alternate routes where possible.
