West Coast highway closed by storm could be fixed by Friday

Monday, 16 December 2019

The road north of Franz Josef on the West Coast was expected to be closed until at least Christmas after heavy rain caused slips and flood damage.

A West Coast tourism operator has joked the mayor should officially reopen a highway reopening much earlier than first thought.

State Highway 6 between Harihari and Whataroa has been closed since early December due to a slip on Mt Hercules after wild weather hit the region.

Westland mayor Bruce Smith thought it could take six weeks to fix, keeping the road shut until at least mid January and hindering access to the popular Fox and Franz Josef glaciers.

NZTA is hoping this slip will be cleared by Friday, opening State Highway 6 between Harihari and Whataroa.

Glacier Country Tourism Group chairman Ashley Cassin earlier said Smith's comments were 'more damaging that what mother nature herself has dealt us'.

**READ MORE:

Westland mayor Bruce Smith feared the road may be shut until at least mid January, hindering access to the popular Fox and Franz Josef glaciers.

* Road to Franz Josef partially open but more work to clear West Coast slips

* Tourism business angered by comments about lengthy road closure

NZTA contractors work to clear an area of 'drop out' on Mt Hercules, State Highway 6 on the West Coast.

* Massive slip blocking West Coast road could take six weeks to fix

* Heavy rain, slips and floodwaters close key roads and cut South Island in half**

Westland mayor Bruce Smith thought it would take six weeks to open State Highway 6, but it looks like it will only take two.

But NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) senior network manager Colin Hey said on Monday the aim was to reopen the road at 9am on Friday, two weeks after the storm.

Cassin said the reopening meant Christmas had 'come early'.

'Having State Highway 6 open from north to south is pivotal for the entire West Coast as this incident has hurt businesses up and down the Coast as visitors detoured away during the road closure and into 2020.

'Our membership look forward to a mayoral event to reopen the road officially,' he joked.

This section of highway is the last part of the Haast highway south of Hokitika to reopen after a storm on December 7 closed the road.

Hey said Friday's reopening was still weather dependent, 'but it reflects the long hours and hard work of multiple crews and subcontractors working on this route since it closed on 7 December'.

Once open, the SH6 route will have traffic lights and single lanes through several areas, including Mt Hercules, between Harihari and Whataroa, and further south in the Fox Hills, between the two glacier towns.

It is expected the Mt Hercules section will be open daily from 7am to 9pm, but could close during the day if rain increased the risk of further slips. The highway will be monitored daily by road crews.

Crews were continuing work to widen the road where it had been washed away by the overflowing creeks, and were stabilising and strengthening road edges and slopes, removing any overhanging vegetation and completing the bridge approaches at places like Little Man Creek.

NZTA has 40 excavators, dump trucks and road trucks working on site.

The highway south of Haast will be closed between 12pm Wednesday and 1pm Thursday to clear fallen rocks using explosives.

Crews would patrol SH6 every day over the Christmas period, and would resume work to permanently fix the roads in the new year, Hey said.