Lane closed on SH5 for safety reasons

Holiday traffic in the holiday season when things when things went wrong on State Highway 5 between Napier and Taupo several years ago. Part of the southbound lane has been closed for this holiday season because of safety concerns. Photo / NZME

Part of a lane on State Highway 5 between Napier and Taupo has been closed to traffic for unexplained safety reasons just 24 hours before the start of the highway’s busiest week of the year.

An advisory from Government national highways management agency Waka Kotahi NZTA just after 3.30am on Thursday the southbound passing lane near the Titiokura Saddle, approximately two kilometres South of Waitara Road, will be closed “for safety reasons” during the Christmas-New Year holiday period.

No other details were given, other than that a 50km/h temporary speed limit is in place, but a motorist had earlier today expressed concerns about loose seal in the area and that in rain it had become particularly slippery and dangerous.

Titiokura Saddle is about 47km northwest by road from Napier.

SH5 issues campaigner Tony Alexander said it the issue raised by a motorist earlier in the day, and it’s reassuring that NZTA is “now listening and responding to our member’s complaints in a timely fashion.

“It is disappointing that their own contractors aren’t picking up issues such as this but I’m grateful that it’s being treated seriously to avoid any major issues during the Christmas period,” he said.

The SH5 issues facebook page he runs now has 6800 members, and Alexander says they are quick to send information, which is passed onto NZTA.