Waikato District mayor Jacqui Church says the SH23 closure was a blow for the community, but necessary to keep people safe. Photo / Supplied
Waikato District mayor Jacqui Church says the SH23 closure was a blow for the community, but necessary to keep people safe. Photo / Supplied
Waikato District mayor Jacqui Church says the closure of State Highway 23, the key route out of and into the Raglan area, is a blow to the local communities.
Church says the council understands the need to close the road between Karakariki Rd and Waitetuna Valley Rd, because “the health and safety of our communities come first”.
“Be assured that both us at Waikato District Council and Waka Kotahi are focused on getting the road open to Raglan as a priority, we have your back people,” Church says.
Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) closed the “divvy” between Raglan and Whatawhata on Wednesday evening due to the severity of cracking and slumping on the highway west of Glentui Lane.
The fissures worsened overnight, so the closure is now in place until further notice.
People wanting to spend the long weekend in Raglan or locals who need to get in and out of town have to be prepared for a detour via Ngaruawahia.
Church urges people to use this official detour via Ohautira and Waingaro Roads. NZTA does not advise using Old Mountain Road as a detour.
“There are some back roads that can be used to detour around the closure [but they] are unsealed and weather-damaged... We are emphasising the need for motorists to take the official detour,” Church says.
State Highway 23 is closed until further notice due to severe fissures. Photo / NZTA
However, she says that extra traffic on those detour roads is going to take its toll.
“They are not built to sustain the volume of traffic that normally travels on SH23.”
Waka Kotahi has advised that the detour routes are not suitable for HMVP vehicles - trucks that are heavier or longer than most trucks.
The agency’s system manager for the Waikato, Cara Lauder, said on Wednesday evening that the agency has done everything it can to keep SH23 open, including applying cold mix asphalt to the cracks, but this hadn’t been enough to stop it from getting worse.
“We understand how important the highway is to locals in Raglan, but our priority must be to act as quickly as necessary to keep everyone safe,” Lauder says.
Geotechnical engineers are carrying out drilling and core penetration tests to investigate the severity of the situation and ongoing risk.
The "divvy" between Raglan and Hamilton (State Highway 23) has been closed since Wednesday evening due to the severity of cracking and slumping. Photo / NZTA
Lauder says once the agency has the full picture from the geotechnical team it will be able to plan how to best fix it.
“Unfortunately, this will not be a quick repair job. We have significant work ahead of us to get the road back to full use, but it’s our priority to find a solution that will give road users access.”
Meanwhile, work is under way to assess the damage and develop a solution for SH25A between Kopu and Hikuai where a large washout caused a part of the road to collapse.
NZTA engaged specialist contractors and geotechnical engineers, as well as local maintenance contractors who will clear material and develop a safe, temporary access track to allow people and machinery to access the site.
SH25A between Kopu and Hikuai won't be an easy fix. Photo / NZTA
Lauder says the damage to the road is significant.
“The repair will be a huge piece of work, and Waka Kotahi is gearing up now so we’ll be ready to take action as soon as the storm has passed.
“Our immediate priority is still the emergency response, and the site is still extremely wet and highly unstable.”
If the weather and ground conditions allow safe access to the site, Waka Kotahi expects to have initial information on the next steps in the repair and restoration of SH25A to share with the public next week.
“We know how vital this transport link is for the region, and we understand that people are hungry for information and want to know when the road could potentially re-open,” Lauder says.
“We’re committed to sharing information as soon as we have more certainty on the way forward, and Waka Kotahi will engage with the public and stakeholders throughout the process of investigation, design and construction of a solution to re-establish a safe and resilient SH25A route for the region.”
