20 May 2018

SH1 to Kaikōura to close overnight later this month

8:27 pm on 20 May 2018

Road workers will close State Highway 1, between Christchurch and Kaikōura, later this month to start removing the shipping containers which have been protecting vehicles from rockfalls.

The seawall along a section of State Highway 1 north of Kaikōura.

The seawall along a section of State Highway 1 north of Kaikōura. Photo: RNZ / Logan Church

Shipping containers protect the traffic at three sites.

An operations manager for the highway reconstruction, Tresca Forrester, said crews had been working on widening the Paratitahi tunnels, and the containers needed to be removed to complete this work.

A section of the highway, between Peketa and Leader Road intersection, will close at 10pm on Monday 28 May and reopen on Tuesday at 6.30am.

Further overnight closures are planned for late June to remove the final containers and several hundred concrete blocks that have also been used for rockfall protection.