State Highway 25 Kuaotunu River Bridge to close for five weeks

State Highway 25 at the Kuaotunu River Bridge will be closed for five weeks from this Sunday (22 September) in order to repair the bridge after damage from last week’s heavy rain.

The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has tonight advised us of the closure to all traffic, from 8am Sunday morning, after an assessment of the bridge today.

Although the bridge has been passable with a stop-go system, NZTA Waikato system manager Karen Boyt says full closure will help the repair work to be carried out as quickly as possible, and it is hoped the bridge will be open by Labour Weekend next month.

"We understand the frustration this may cause for those who live in or travel to the area often. However, our contractors are working as hard as they can to repair the damage as quickly and efficiently as possible,' Ms Boyt says.

NZTA has given the following instructions for Kuaotunu residents during the closure:

Residents south of Blackjack Road will need to access Kuaotunu from Whitianga during this time.
Residents west of the bridge will only have vehicle access from the Coromandel side.
VMS boards, which are electronic signs, will be clearly signposted via either SH25A and SH25 or SH25 Thames Coast Road.
Pedestrians will be able to cross the river via a separate, existing walk bridge.
"We hope to have the bridge open again by Labour Weekend, however, this is weather dependent,” Ms Boyt says."We will keep the community updated, and we ask motorists travelling to the area to check our Journey Planner or call 0800 44 44 49 before leaving, for the most up-to-date information about the repairs.”

"The NZ Transport Agency would like to thank the community and motorists for their patience during this time," Ms Boyt says.

Our Civil Defence Controller Garry Towler says the road closure will have a big impact on the community of Kuaotunu as it will effectively cut the community in two and the connection to Matarangi and Whangapoua.

Our Council’s emergency management staff will be in touch with the community to see if any additional assistance is needed, such as pedestrian access around the worksite and provision for emergency services. If you want to speak to someone from our emergency management team about this, call us on 07 868 0200.

NZTA is in touch with the local schools to discuss school bus planning. Also, remember it will be school holidays for two of the weeks during the roadworks period.

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