NZ SH1 north of Kaikoura

[sydneynick]

I can't recall seeing this mentioned on Sabre. In November 2016, a major earthquake cut off all road access to Kaikoura, on the east coast of NZ's South Island. Access from the south was restored quickly, but the disruption north of the town was such that re-opening is not expected until 15 December. The highway along the east coast is normally a major link for freight from the inter-island ferry at Picton to Christchurch and points south. The alternative route takes almost 8 hours instead of the usual 4 hours, and is costing the transport industry (and thus the country) millions of dollars.

The work of restoring the road has been massive. Have a look at some details at https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2017/11/the-road/

[Bryn666]

The disruption a tiny landslip causes here is enough; I can only imagine this is horrendous for them.

Also it shows that seismic engineering is thankfully not a huge concern of ours.

[Percy]

I was on holiday in NZ when that earthquake happened, a few hundred miles away in the middle of North Island; felt it for the best part of a minute. Obviously huge amount of reporting locally in the following days including people cut off by SH1 slippage. Testament to the resourcefulness and spirit of the Kiwis.

[Peter Freeman]

Brilliant work. Typical NZ. Anyone who has seen the Christchurch city centre rebuild will know what I mean.

[Berk]

I'm really hoping this will be fixed. I’m going there in February!!

[sydneynick]

I think it is very unlikely that repairs will be finished by February, but the road will probably be open although with ongoing road works and maybe night closures.

The decision to re-open from 15 December was driven by promises made that the road would be open for the summer holiday season. Kaikoura has been badly affected: the lack of a through road means that people are staying at Hanmer Springs and/or going to see seals at Akaroa.

[Berk]

I think it is very unlikely that repairs will be finished by February, but the road will probably be open although with ongoing road works and maybe night closures.

The decision to re-open from 15 December was driven by promises made that the road would be open for the summer holiday season. Kaikoura has been badly affected: the lack of a through road means that people are staying at Hanmer Springs and/or going to see seals at Akaroa.

Yep, that figures with what I’ve read. Although I’m planning my own route, I’m trying to follow the itinerary from New Zealand tourism. There’s a route that does a circular trip of South Island (from Christchurch) in 16 days. Combining a couple of stops (and unfortunately missing out the trip to Stewart Island) means I can fit it all into a 2-week holiday, fingers crossed.

Not allowing for earthquakes, landslides or volcanic ash!!

Mind you, I don’t believe I’ll be able to see absolutely everything and maybe not as much time as I would like (even though I like a brisk pace). Maybe I’ll spend a whole month next time, and fit in North Island too.

[Peter Freeman]

Berk, you'll love it. Two weeks is slightly tight for South Island, but I'm sure you've got it figured out. Do spend time in Christchurch - it's a nice city, and currently full of construction - even roads!

It's tempting to think of NZ as small, influenced by it's ridiculously low population, but actually some of the distances are quite long.

If you ever go back, and do the NI, you'll probably like Auckland's cute motorway network.

[sydneynick]

you'll probably like Auckland's cute motorway network.

I have my doubts. Heading south through Auckland on Saturday, there was heavy congestion both north and south of the city centre. It was no fun at all.

[ChrisH]

Well, they did it: the highway reopened on 15th December as promised.

There is a nice video on the press release page showing some of the work that was carried out. It sounds like all the contractors in the country were in on the job and there must have been some cracking engineering and construction work done to get the road (and railway) open again.

[rileyrob]

Coming out of Auckland yesterday on SH1 there is a major rebuilding going on to extend the motorway north of Puhoi. Looks like there will be some pretty substantial earthworks or viaducts to carry the road across the steep gulleys. Unfortunately I think it said it was opening in 2021!

This morning we enjoyed a ride on the Gourock to Dunoon Ferry lookalike across the bay of islands at okiato, and are now having lunch at the south end of ninety mile beach. That road is very quiet though, but we think it's just been High Tide.

[c2R]

Coming out of Auckland yesterday on SH1 there is a major rebuilding going on to extend the motorway north of Puhoi. Looks like there will be some pretty substantial earthworks or viaducts to carry the road across the steep gulleys. Unfortunately I think it said it was opening in 2021!

This morning we enjoyed a ride on the Gourock to Dunoon Ferry lookalike across the bay of islands at okiato, and are now having lunch at the south end of ninety mile beach. That road is very quiet though, but we think it's just been High Tide.

I'm now even more jealous of your travels than I was previously! Hope you're having a good time - it sounds it!

[rileyrob]

Drove south on SH1 yesterday and It is obviously resurfacing season here. There was a variety of work going on, including surface dressing, resurfacing and full reconstruction. The latter revealed a lot of hardcore under layers, but only very occasionally was there any evidence of he road having been planed back to an older layer of Tarmac. We think they just have a very thin layer of surface on the base.

South of Tirau there is very little (if any) dual carriageway, but plenty of 2+1 sextions, including some that we're being added or extended in the road works.

[rileyrob]

Not on SH1, but we've just driven SH3 between Mokau and Waitara and there is a lengthy section of resurfacing over the hills there. Lots of twists and turns with fresh Tarmac and some planed back. The 30kph limit was being widely ignored, even past the works themselves. Traffic is being held / sorted at the bottom with light vehicles allowed to proceed so far up the hill while the lorries are stopped - were not sure theyd manage a hill start higher up. Driving a 2m wide motor home along a bumpy grass verge between verge markers and cones was a tight fit! The actual work zone is several km long, and the only alternative along a surfaced highway is several hundred km diversion, as we found out yesterday when we explored the fantastic Forgotten World Highway.

Ferry to South Island tomorrow, and back on SH1.

[rileyrob]

Massive new motorway section under construction north of Wellington. It is needed though, while the existing road is a beautiful coastal drive, it is D1/S2, narrow and twisty so not a good fast route for traffic. SH2 on the east coast is already a good dual carriageway from what we saw of it, but the earthworks being constructed to get SH1 throuh the hills look immense. Completion date is 2020

[Berk]

Is that the Transmission Gully motorway??

[sydneynick]

It is the Transmission Gully motorway.

Incidentally, NZ had another major road taken out about a week ago by a major storm from the tail end of a cyclone. The road over Takaka Hill was severely damaged by slips and washouts, cutting off all of the Golden Bay area. The road is now open for very limited hours, with vehicles being supervised in convoys.

[Berk]

It is the Transmission Gully motorway.

Incidentally, NZ had another major road taken out about a week ago by a major storm from the tail end of a cyclone. The road over Takaka Hill was severely damaged by slips and washouts, cutting off all of the Golden Bay area. The road is now open for very limited hours, with vehicles being supervised in convoys.

That would’ve been three weeks ago, when I was there.

What they didn’t also tell you was that parts of SH6, and the Motueka Valley Highway had also been washed away. Cyclone Gita brought many landslips. I even changed my travel plans to avoid Kaikoura, as it was blocked again. But it reopened just a couple of days before.

[sydneynick]

It does not surprise me that parts of the Motueka Valley Highway washed out. It is very close to the river in places.

[rileyrob]

We drove down the SH6 past the Motueka Valley road on Monday 6th, and there were no major problems. A lot of the roads have blurred in to one in my memory (the dash cam was running most of the time), but I can't remember any specific issues on that section. Further north, before Nelson, there were some substantial roadworks underway to widen and straighten some of the bends, and I think there was a landslip in that area. Perhaps foolishly we parked up for the night in a picnic site below the road near the bottom of the hill!
There were a couple of coastal slips much further south on SH6 too.

There were a number of slides on North Island, particularly along the northern part of SH43, and roads to the north of it. I'm not sure any of these were particularly fresh. I seem to remember one somewhere near the roadworks on the twisty section of SH3 north of New Plymouth too. We were also told that the area along SH60 towards Farewell Spit was very badly hit, and the road impassable in places to the motorhome.