SH25 Hikuai River Bridge’s final night-time closures postponed

The bridge will be open to all traffic until Monday, November 28.

Due to the poor weather forecast for this week, there has been a change in programme for the State Highway 25 Hikuai River Bridge deck replacement works.

The bridge has been fully closed to all traffic during a series of overnight closures during the past three weeks to enable the bridge deck to be replaced.

Work has progressed well and is ahead of schedule, with the timber bridge deck and guardrail barriers now replaced; however, the final surfacing work scheduled to take place on Sunday, November 20, is weather dependent and had to be postponed.

The bridge is now open to all traffic until Monday, November 28, when it will be closed from 8pm to 6am for three nights while the surfacing work is completed.

Temporary traffic management will remain until this time, with a speed restriction of 10km/h due to the unsealed surface over the bridge. During the overnight closures, the bridge will be open to all traffic during the day, from 6am to 8pm, with traffic management remaining in place until the work has concluded.

There is no local detour around the Hikuai River Bridge, with the only available alternative route using State Highway 25 and State Highway 25A around the Coromandel Peninsula, therefore motorists are advised to travel during the day to avoid needing to take this detour, or defer their travel where possible.

Waka Kotahi NZTA says it appreciates this maintenance work is disruptive and while every effort will be made to keep the closure within the advised timeframe, unforeseen issues such as further bad weather could affect these dates.

For up-to-date information on roadworks, traffic, detours and delays, motorists are encouraged to visit the Waka Kotahi Journey Planner website.