Plans to run community meetings in Makarora and Wanaka on the Diwana Falls slip went awry for New Zealand Transport Agency staff yesterday, when their own attendance was prevented by another slip-related road closure.
While the afternoon meeting in Wanaka was cancelled, about 30 residents turned up to the 11am session at the Makarora Tourist Centre - one of a series held by the NZTA to discuss the future of the slip.
Opus geotechnical engineer Rob Bond filled in for absent NZTA staff who were stuck in Christchurch after heavy rain caused instability at the slip, delaying the usual 6am opening of the Haast Pass highway until later in the day.
Mr Bond told the Makarora community there was no quick fix for the slip - which has disrupted travel on the vital tourism link since early September - and intermittent highway closures would continue for ''at least six to 10 weeks''.
Diana Falls was a historic landslip and the present slip was a ''slow-moving debris flow'' compounded by the fact the road was in a cutting. However, the slip was slowly stabilising and an assessment phase would be completed in the next couple of weeks, Mr Bond said.
After that, it was hoped the slip's source area could be safely accessed and work could begin towards a permanent solution.
Makarora business operators told Mr Bond their biggest issue was the daily uncertainty around road closures and not being able to give motorists clear information.
''They can wait here for five or six hours and then we go 'No, it's not going to open', and that for them is huge because they could have made the choice to go back five hours before,'' Makarora Tourist Centre manager Michelle St John said.
Mr Bond said he understood why the community wanted a decisive ruling on the road status each morning, rather than updates throughout the day.
''Unfortunately, I think the bottom line NZTA would take is that if the road can be open it should be open, even if it's for two hours.''
Wilkin River Jet co-owner Patsy Nolan asked for signs at Lake Hawea advising motorists the road was permanently open as far as Makarora.
At present, an electronic NZTA sign only displays whether State Highway 6 to Haast is open or closed.
''It stops people from coming here and we need that business, everybody does,'' Ms Nolan said.
Speaking to the Otago Daily Times yesterday afternoon from Christchurch, NZTA West Coast regional performance manager Pete Connors confirmed signs would be erected at Lake Hawea and Hokitika encouraging tourists to continue to Makarora and Haast, respectively.
While daytime closures were becoming less frequent, Mr Connors expected it would be April or May next year before night closures ceased and the road was open around the clock.
By then the slip should have settled down and the NZTA would be in a position to introduce long-term solutions such as debris fences.
Community meetings in Hokitika, Franz Josef, Fox Glacier and Haast on Wednesday and Thursday also highlighted concerns about the uncertainty around road closures, Mr Connors said.
''They need more surety ... and we're doing our damndest to make sure we can get there as quick as we can ... [but] we've got to think about the safety of the workmen and the safety of the motorists.''
The NZTA had ''no budgetary constraints'' in fixing the problem, Mr Connors said.
