Weather: Damage from slips keeps Hamurana Rd closed, SH35 fully open

This slip came down on Hamurana Rd on Sunday. A second larger slip has kept the road closed. Photo / Supplied

Hamurana Rd will remain closed overnight due to damage from slips that have now been cleared.

While crews have cleared two large slips that closed the roads, the council said there had been some damage to the road surface that would need repairing before the road reopened.

The repairs are planned for tomorrow morning, weather permitting and all going well, the council said.

It said roading crews had made good progress today on the clean-up of the other slips around the district's roading network.

It would provide an update on Hamurana Rd tomorrow.

Roading crews are still out tidying up weather-related damage on roads around the district today and contractors expected this to continue until at least Friday, possibly into early next week.

State Highway 35 has fully reopened after all slips were cleared earlier than expected, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency said.

FINAL UPDATE - 4:50PM
All slips have now been cleared and #SH35 is now fully OPEN, earlier than expected. Thank you for your patience. Please continue to drive with caution through the area. ^LB https://t.co/6BRWzbOvdJ

— Waka Kotahi NZTA Waikato/BoP (@WakaKotahiWaiBP) October 4, 2022

Motorists are warned to watch out for contractors clearing multiple slips throughout the Bay of Plenty this week.

A spokesperson for Waka Kotahi said road users were advised to take care, even as the weather improved, as contractors worked to clear slips and repair pavement defects caused by wet weather on the region's highways.

Rotorua, Tauranga and Whakatāne have already exceeded their normal monthly rainfall average for October.

Rotorua has had 121.3mm of rain since October 1 compared to the 98.6mm average for the month. Tauranga has seen 83.8mm compared to the monthly average of 80mm, and Whakatāne has reported 85mm compared to 83.9mm.

This is on top of an already record wet September for Whakatāne this year. Rotorua and Tauranga have both reported their second-wettest September on record.

Clean-up work update:

Hamurana Rd – Still closed. Crews continuing with slip clean up. Planning to open the road later today if the work goes to plan. We expect to be able to update you this afternoon.
Tutukau Rd – Underslip in road shoulder being repaired.
Te Kopia Rd - Crews working on other roads will move to Te Kopia once finished at other sites, to clear various small to medium size overslips along the full length of that road.
Bryce and Maleme Rds – Crew clearing overslips.
Crew completing inspections of unsealed roads in the southern part of the district's roading network.
Cyclic crew in southern part of the network completing inspections, minor maintenance and opening all "ice/grit" signs in preparation for the cold snap forecast to hit between Thursday and Saturday.
Cyclic crew in northern part of the network completing inspections, minor maintenance and opening all "ice/grit" signs in preparation for the cold snap.
Crew on Pongakawa Valley Rd getting the unsealed section ready to start our spring metalling programme tomorrow.