Drivers who travel south of Fox Glacier may have up to 50 minutes or at worst, two hour waits while this work is completed.

Openings on the hour – overnights initially

Fox River Bridge, closest to Fox Glacier township, will close overnight from 11 – 14 April (Tuesday to Friday). The road will close at 10pm and reopen at 6am.

“The bridge will open on the hour, every hour to allow traffic to pass,” says Moira Whinham, Maintenance Contract Manager for Waka Kotahi on the West Coast. If the weather is wet, these times may be rescheduled.

Cook River Bridge to the south will also close overnight, 10pm to 6 am, from 17 – 21 April, Monday to Friday and again 26-28 April, Wednesday to Friday. As for Fox River Bridge, these repairs are weather dependent and if it is wet, they may be rescheduled.

Week of 1-5 May, daytime closures

More work is planned for the Cook River Bridge during daytimes, 6 am to 6 pm, Monday to Wednesday, 1-3 May and again on Friday, 5 May. Traffic will be allowed across at the top of each daytime hour.

On Thursday, 4 May the bridge will close for two full hours before midday and after 1 pm: 10am – 12pm and 1pm to 3pm. During these times there will be no access. 

All these planned closures are dependent upon good weather and if it is wet, they may be rescheduled. Emergency vehicles will be accommodated at short notice.

Waka Kotahi thanks all SH6 South Westland drivers for their patience while this key work on these single lane structures is safely completed ahead of winter.

Electronic signs will advertise and update closure dates at Makarora, Haast, Fox Glacier, Hokitika and also at Fox Glacier and Bruce Bay.

Fox River Bridge updates

Cook River Bridge updates

Crashes at the intersection prompted a change to left-in-only after public consultation on what people’s preferences were, says Peter Standring, Maintenance Contract Manager for Central Otago for Waka Kotahi.

The work to close one lane, install new signage and mark up the changed road layout will take around three weeks or 15 working days, weather permitting, he says.

During the construction period there will be no access from SH8 onto Mutton Town Road, he says. The detour will be via Sunderland and Hospital Streets.

The intersection near Clyde being upgraded to make it safer:

Over the three weeks, 10 April to 1 May, residents have been warned to expect noisy conditions near the work site with some vibration between 7am and 5pm.

“Thanks to all local road users and residents for taking care around this work site for the three or so weeks of work and keeping pets and children safely away,” says Peter Standring.

Earlier statement on changes to this intersection:

Decision on permanent closure of SH8 Clyde-Alexandra Road/Mutton Town Road intersection

To minimise disruption during peak traffic hours and to keep everyone safe the works will take place at night under road closures between 8pm and 5am.

Asphalting and line marking work will be completed in sections with short local detours in place.

Works will start near Davies Road and progress northward to School Road.

Traffic management will be in place at night and there will be a temporary speed limit in place during the day.

Schedule of works

• Tuesday, 11 April – Thursday 13 April
  51 – 112 Rodney Street
• Sunday 16 April – Thursday 20 April
  104 – 207 Rodney Street & 174 – 265 Rodney Street
• Wednesday 26 April – Thursday 27 April
  240 – 287 Rodney Street
• Sunday 30 April – Thursday 4 May
  287 – 338 Rodney Street & 56 Rodney Street – 1650 SH1
• Sunday 7 May – Thursday 11 May
  Rain contingency days, all locations

No work will take place on Friday or Saturday nights or over the ANZAC long weekend. All work is weather dependant.

For up-to-date information on road works, traffic, detours and delays, drivers are encouraged to visit the Waka Kotahi Journey Planner website:

Waka Kotahi Journey Planner

Waka Kotahi contractors worked through the night to prepare final road surfacing and line marking, allowing the road to open to traffic at 8:58am, three hours earlier than anticipated.

Jacqui Hori-Hoult, Regional Manager Maintenance and Operations says that teams on the ground have been working extremely hard in difficult conditions to re-open the road as soon as possible.

“We know how crucial this route is for people in the region, and we’re thrilled to be able to open in both directions well ahead of the Easter holidays, ensuring that local road detours won’t have to bear the brunt of high volumes of holiday traffic. 

“The team has put in a huge amount of mahi to get the road open in both directions and I am immensely proud of our people, contractors and consultants who have worked tirelessly over the past two months.”

Traffic management and a temporary speed limit will remain in place so that northbound and southbound traffic can travel in both directions in time for Easter, which will see an increase in vehicles travelling to and from Northland. 

The road will then need to close in both directions from 17 April for two weeks to complete major earth works and drainage installation before permanently opening the road in May. 

Contractors have already cleared around three Olympic sized swimming pools of material from the Brynderwyn Hills, with the equivalent of another twenty remaining to clear. 

Up to seven teams working through the site at any given time, clearing multiple over slips and cutting tracks to access the top of the major slip.

Ms Hori-Hoult says Waka Kotahi will continue to closely monitor the road and weather conditions, and the road may be closed  at short notice should conditions become unsafe for road users. 

The road was reopened to traffic last week between 7am and 7pm and around the clock from Monday, after initially suffering extensive damage from Cyclone Gabrielle.

An initial slip between Te Pohue and Glengarry made the road impassable until a temporary bypass was constructed well clear of the slip.

Engineers have now completed the design for the long term solution and work began today.

Central North Island Regional Manager of Maintenance and Operations Jaclyn Hankin says initially excavators will be onsite, at the bottom of the site, clearing fallen soil and other material.

“The design will then see the earth built back up, on a 40 degree angle, with rock making up the majority of the material to fill the slope.

“Plastic geogrid sheeting will also be used in the layering of the bank as retaining material. This is widely used in New Zealand and around the world to stabilise banks for these projects.

”It is testament to the commitment of our roading crews and engineers, who are working tirelessly to strengthen our roading network that we have reached this milestone” says Ms Hankin.

This site is one of a number of sites still damaged along the route and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency crews are working on a number already.

“Road users will notice changes regularly, as work moves forward at a number of sites. Many areas remain under temporary traffic management and lower speed restrictions.  We thank you for your continued patience and understanding during this time.”

The work is needed, as part of the cleanup from Cyclone Gabrielle, to further improve the safety of the network north of Gisborne.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is reminding road users to expect delays of up to 20 minutes between the hours of 9am and midday tomorrow (Friday 31 March).

While the stump removal won’t take the entire time, the three hour window is to allow contractors to get to site.

People are advised to plan ahead and factor the delays into their journey plans.  

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency appreciates the understanding from businesses, freight operators and our communities, and looks forward to the completion of this work to help ensure safer, more reliable journeys in this area.

It means on Monday, 3 April there will be a single lane closure and stop/go traffic control between 8pm and 1am before the road closure begins.

These resurfacing works will be carried out on both sides of the Koromiko Bridge.

Residents and regular users of State Highway 1 between Picton and Tuamarina need to be ready for maintenance works that will require a road closure in early April.

Contractors will carry out resealing work on the highway near the Koromiko Bridge. Because of the restricted nature of the road and the planned works area, the highway will have to be fully closed while this work is done. There is no detour available at this location. The road will be reopened briefly every half hour to let queued traffic through.

The asphalt resealing is scheduled to be done between 1am and 5am on Tuesday, 4 April. A contingency option has been scheduled for 5 April if the works are delayed by bad weather or unforeseen circumstances.

(Image: Koromiko Bridge, State Highway 1)

The resealing has been timed to create as little disruption as possible to road users and residents. Closing the highway also allows the work to be done much more quickly than if it was carried out during the day using stop/go traffic management.

Waka Kotahi wants to thank drivers for their patience and understanding while this work is completed. Regular maintenance work like this is vital to keeping the highway safe for all road users.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s Aspiring Highways team has been working on the Yates Feature on the Bluff since early in 2022, following an increase in movement detected late in 2021, says Robert Choveaux, Senior Network Manager, Central Otago, for Waka Kotahi.

The cliff face had 14 weeks work early in 2022, then a further 15 weeks since November last year. Over the two periods, the team drilled just over 2000 metres to install 182 steel bolts to help secure around 13,000 tonnes of schist rock, comprising the Yates Feature.

Mr Choveaux says the team will take a short break from 31 March and will return after the public and school holidays on 26 April to complete the usual autumn checks. These will result in some short travel delays.

“The travel delays will run for about three weeks from the end of April to allow the team to complete scaling and inspection work on the Bluff as a whole ahead of winter.

“The autumn work will run between 8am and 5pm Wednesday, 26 April, to Friday, 12 May, and it is weather dependent.

“The Nevis Bluff is a site we regularly inspect, monitor and stabilise as part of our commitment to provide a safe, accessible highway network. The best time to do this work is the shoulder seasons in autumn and spring when traffic volumes are at their lowest,” Mr Choveaux adds.

“We appreciate everyone’s understanding for any delays that they may encounter and thank them for following the temporary, lowered speeds which are for their safety and the safety of our workers.”

The Nevis Bluff is about half-way between Cromwell and Queenstown – 25 minutes from Cromwell, 35 minutes from Queenstown, above the Kawarau River, on SH6.