SH5 Napier-Taupō Rd to reopen to all traffic during the day from Monday
State Highway 5, the Napier-Taupō Rd, will reopen to all traffic during the day from 7am on Monday.
The road has been closed for a month after significant damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and another lot of heavy rainfall at the end of February saw more of the road fall away.
This week the road reopened to essential freight convoys, to the excitement of locals who live along the road.
In a statement, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport said the road, which travels through the devastated Esk Valley, no longer looks “like it did before".
"There are 32 damaged sites along the route, ranging from minor dropouts to significant underslips and washouts.
"There’ll be speed restrictions in place to keep you safe, and there are active work sites. Because of that, the journey between Napier and Taupō will take longer than it used to.
“Travel carefully through the work sites and stick to the posted speed limits. Our contractors will be operating water trucks to suppress dust for the communities living in Eskdale.”
For the safety of drivers, the road will close at night from 7pm to 7am, with closure points at SH2 Kaimata Road, Glengarry Road, and Matea Road.
“The environment around SH5 remains fragile, and we may still need to close the road at short notice due to its vulnerability," Waka Kotahi said.
“Planned daytime road closures will be required as part of our scheduled road renewal programme. We’ll provide further updates on these—they’re expected to take place within the next two weeks, and they’ll be single-day closures.
“Due to the road’s vulnerability, we can’t give access to over-dimensional loads (category 4 and higher), but all other heavy vehicles are permitted to travel.
“We’d like to acknowledge the communities that live along SH5—they’ve experienced significant disruption with the road closed. Thanks for bearing with us while we worked to reopen SH5.
“Enjoy reconnecting with your friends and whānau and getting to where you need to go.”
