23 May 2010

Queenstown to Glenorchy road reopens after slip

3:15 pm on 23 May 2010

The road between Queenstown and Glenorchy has reopened after checks on Sunday determined the area where a large rock fall occurred was stable.

On Friday, about 200 tonnes of debris was been cleared from the road, but engineers decided it was not safe to reopen the route until loose rocks that could still come down were removed.

This was completed on Saturday, and the road re-opened in the evening, but closed again for three hours on Sunday for final stability checks.

Queenstown Lakes District Council says it's now confident the area is stable, but it's asking motorists to take care.

It says it may take weeks to repair the pot-holes and damage to road barriers caused by the slip so a 30 km/h speed limit is in place in the area.

After the slip on Friday, up to 30 Glenorchy people who work or attend school in Queenstown were taken home by boat.