SH1 south of Kaikoura to reopen

Photo / NZPA

Both lanes of State Highway 1 will be reopened this evening, after last week's gargantuan slip blocked it south of Kaikoura, cutting off the main northern approach to earthquake damaged Christchurch.

The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) reopened SH1 to one lane of traffic yesterday afternoon, while the other was being used as a temporary rail line.

NZTA's Canterbury highways operation manager Peter Connors said contractors were working hard to get two lanes operating by 8pm tonight.

"Crews are still cleaning up at the site and motorists could face delays of up to 30 minutes. We ask for them to be patient with the measures that are in place to control traffic flows," Mr Connors said.

The severe weather affecting many parts of the country was not expected to have a major impact at the slip site, he said.

KiwiRail spokeswoman Ruth Larsen said normal freight and passenger rail services had resumed still using the temporary line.

Due to the use of the temporary line there would be traffic management whenever a train went past the slip site, Ms Larsen said.

Extra freight trains ran overnight and today to clear tonnage which had been held up in Picton, she said.

- NZPA