In a statement yesterday Doc operations manager Charlie Sklenar said a section of the Motatapu Track, a historic route linking the two Otago towns and crossing private land, was found to be unsafe after a known "slow-moving slip" was found to be at risk of becoming unstable.
A recent routine assessment of the 400m slip, between Highland Creek Hut and Roses Hut, found it was at risk of becoming larger during storm events.
"We’ve been monitoring the slow-moving slip for a number of years," Ms Sklenar said.
"Safety is our highest priority, so when a recent reassessment found it was at risk of further movement, potentially damaging the track, we made the call to close this section and reroute it to a safer location," she said.
A Doc crew was sent to the remote location to finish the work last week.
The track was rerouted 350m, across 180m of elevation.
Marker posts had been moved to the new section, vegetation placed across old entrance points and directional signs installed at each end of the new route to help hikers easily follow the new route.
The track was part of Te Araroa Trail and popular with hikers and trail runners, she said.
"Judging by the amount of foot traffic while staff were undertaking the work, it won’t be long before this new section is well and truly worn in," Ms Sklenar said. — Allied Media
