Local residents and regular users of State Highway 60 over the Tākaka Hill need to be ready for delays as planned maintenance work is carried out on the route.
There will be resealing work done to parts of the road on both sides of the hill. Other maintenance work will also be undertaken, such as clearing water channels and fixing slips and guard rails
The highway will be subject to daytime stop/go traffic control from this Tuesday, 7 February to Tuesday, 21 February. These are likely to create 15-minute delays for traffic.
Then, between Sunday, 26 February and the morning of Friday, 17 March, there will also be night closures of the road, five days a week, (Sunday to Thursday nights) with a short opening around 1 am for queued traffic. The night closures end at 5:30 am on Friday mornings.
Because of the road's narrowness and the need to keep road crews safe, the road must be closed at night while this work is done. Closures also allow contractors to get work done much faster. The nature of the materials being worked with (eg asphalt), means some of this work has to be done during the day. The material can’t be laid successfully under colder night-time conditions.
Road users should expect and plan for delays while this work is being done. It is crucial drivers observe speed limits in road work areas and follow the instructions of contractors.
Waka Kotahi understands the road works will be inconvenient for residents and regular road users. However, this maintenance work is essential for keeping the highway resilient over the coming winter. We want to thank locals for their patience and understanding as these works are completed.
The roadworks are weather dependent and may be rescheduled.
These will run from 26 February to 17 March
The closures will be between 8 pm at night and 5:30 am the following morning
The road will open once each night around 1 am.
Vehicles travelling over the hill need to be at the Aaron Creek Road closure point at 12.30 am and the Riwaka Valley Road closure point by 1 am
Waka Kotahi is providing regular updates to the public as the severe weather continues to affect Aotearoa this week. Our page is updated by our traffic operations centres 24/7 to provide the latest available information on state highway closures and disruptions. Remember to refresh the page when checking the status of highways to ensure the latest updates are displayed.
