'Significant' slip on the Terrace should be clear by this evening but no certainty on road reopening

The slip last week. Photo / Nick James

The slip on the Terrace which evacuated 12 households and made two uninhabitable is expected to be cleared by this evening.

Brad Singh, the manager of transport and infrastructure at Wellington City Council, told NZME that crews have been working hard to clear the huge slip and remove debris.

"We're anticipating we could have the bulk of the slip, most of the debris, hauled off by the end of the day, so around 6pm tonight."

However, this doesn't mean the road will reopen.

Geotechnical engineers will assess the road tomorrow morning and a call will be made on whether it's safe to reopen.

Singh says around 600 cubic metres of soil came down in the slip – the largest slip Wellington has seen this year.

With more rain forecast this week, Singh says crews will be on standby to clear further slips.

"There's always a chance of slips occurring when it's wet so we'll address it the same way we always do, with crews on standby and keeping an eye on the MetService updates...we start with the worst one and then go from there."

As for the people evacuated from their homes, Singh says only two households have been deemed uninhabitable – but until the engineers assess the slip again, it's hard to know if more properties will join them.

"It's unlikely that more properties will be red-stickered but it is difficult to ascertain if further slips will put properties at risk."