Traffic chaos after slip closes Waikato bridge

A slip under the southern end of Victoria Bridge has created possible problems with its foundations. Photo / Christine Cornege

A slip which has shut the 105-year-old Victoria Bridge is creating chaos for Cambridge motorists.

The town's high-level bridge was closed on Wednesday when safety concerns were raised after a slip under the bridge's foundations.

The bridge over the Waikato River will be closed to pedestrians and cyclists until Thursday while engineers investigate the stability of the embankment.

The closure of the bridge, one of two linking Leamington to the main township of Cambridge, has created traffic jams in the town at peak hours.

The remaining low-level bridge linking Shakespeare St to State Highway 1 is heavy with traffic while work is carried out.

On Thursday evening the traffic travelling south from Hamilton was bumper-to-bumper from St Peter's School on State Highway 1 into Cambridge.

Traffic jams around the town were just as frustrating for drivers.

A Cambridge motorist, who did not want to be named, said it was "the absolute pits".

He said it had taken one colleague 30 minutes to travel across the bridge from Leamington to the township on Friday morning and another had spent 40 minutes getting to the entrance of the town from St Peter's School.

But staff at the Sheridan Dairy in Shakespeare St said despite their proximity to the bridge the slow traffic had not affected business.

Waipa mayor Alan Livingston said the public's safety was paramount.

"Obviously we don't want to prejudice safety in any form and that's why it's closed."

The council was waiting for engineering advice on the extent of the damage and whether the bridge could be opened to any traffic.

Mr Livingston had not received estimates of the cost of investigating or repairing the bridge at this stage.

He ruled out any need for a third bridge, referring to a 2007 traffic management report which found there was no need for a third bridge in the next 20 years.

The mayor said traffic would ease when the Cambridge stretch of the Waikato Expressway was completed in 2015, bypassing the town and taking the pressure off the town's roads and the two bridges.

Meanwhile, motorists are being urged to take alternative routes and be patient when travelling along State Highway 1.