Tākaka Hill road reopened after workers clear slip

Friday, 24 September 2021

The only road over Tākaka Hill was closed by a slip at 2.25pm on Thursday and reopened at 4.15pm on Friday. (File photograph)

The Tākaka Hill highway linking Nelson to Golden Bay/Mohua reopened on Friday afternoon after crews cleared slips and redirected water flows.

The State Highway 60 route was closed mid-Thursday afternoon after heavy rain and debris overwhelmed a culvert and flooded the highway.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency said the road was re-opened at 4.15pm on Friday and would remain open 24/7 barring any future emergency works around slips and flooding or planned night works.

At 2pm on Friday queues of vehicles were escorted in convoy past the slip site, and those with urgent appointments on either side of the hill were also given escorts.

“We thank everyone for their patience and our crews for doing their best for the public. We know how important this highway is,” the agency’s system manager, top of the south, Andrew James said.

It was originally feared the highway could be closed for all of Friday because of the volume of debris.

James said the first slip on Thursday afternoon and a fallen tree had been cleared but a second slip occurred nearby late in the day, keeping the highway closed overnight.

The remains of a slip on Rocks Rd in Nelson on Friday morning after heavy rain on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Tasman District, three roads that were closed on Thursday due to flooding and or slips – Stafford Drive, Higgins Rd and Waimea West Rd – were reopen by 8am on Friday. However, Dovedale Hill, from Sharp Rd to the end of seal, remained closed due to fallen trees. Golden Hills Rd and Redwood Valley Lane also remained closed due to flooding.

In central Nelson, the remains of a slip were evident along Rocks Rd.

Meanwhile, residents of Eighty Eight Valley are being advised to boil all of their drinking water due to the high rainfall and increased turbidity in water going to the treatment plant.

Scenes of devastation caused by ex-tropical cyclone Gita at Riwaka and on the Tākaka Hill road. Video first published in February, 2018.

Tasman District Council says it is likely the boil water notice will be in place for three days.

Wastewater overflows have also affected some areas of the district.

In Richmond, wastewater overflowed at the Beach Rd-Fittal St pumping station and entered Waimea Inlet.

“People are advised not to have contact with the water or take shellfish from the area north to the Tāhunanui Back Beach for the next three days,” the council posted on Thursday.

The Sunview Heights pumping station on Hill St South was also affected by the rain with the possibility that wastewater got into a nearby stream. Therefore, people were advised to avoid contact with the area for 24 hours.

At Motueka, a minor overflow at the Ledger Ave pump station occurred in the early hours of Thursday. Although it was minor, people had been advised to avoid the area of Ledger Goodman Park surrounding the site for 24 hours.

A septic waste pump truck was used to manage the flow from the School Rd pump station at Riwaka where high water levels caused an overflow from the site, adjacent to Riwaka School.