State Highway 25. Photo: Thames Coromandel District Council / Supplied
State Highway 25 between Opoutere and Hikuai on the Coromandel Peninsula was closed on Wednesday morning after more subsidence overnight.
The road was damaged following heavy rain on Sunday evening and the road was reduced to one lane.
Further movement occurred overnight, which means the road will be fully closed until this afternoon while further stabilisation work is carried out.
UPDATE SH25 ROAD CLOSED - 10:40AM, WED 08 MAR#SH25 remains closed between Hikuai and Opoutere. Please find the latest media release here: https://t.co/x53YcrKkao
— Waka Kotahi NZTA Waikato/BoP (@WakaKotahiWaiBP) March 7, 2023
Traffic map: https://t.co/Je6CD8bJQ3 ^MS https://t.co/nJhTeKS6ff
Some traffic was allowed through for a short time this morning, but Waka Kotahi said it needed to close the road again to allow urgent repair work to continue.
Contractors are cutting further into the hillside to widen the road away from the underslip.
An update is expected on Wednesday afternoon.
Thames-Coromandel Civil Defence controller Garry Towler urged everyone intending to travel through the area to delay or make alternate arrangements.
"Please delay any travel to this area until officially notified it is safe to do so as traffic will not be permitted through. Roading crews are doing everything possible to keep the road open, so give them space to get on with it".
