Transit Regional Office
Auckland
21 June 20002
MEDIA RELEASE

Transit advises motorists to exercise caution
after storm damage to State Highways in Auckland and Northland

State Highway 16 south of Helensville – near Woodhill and between Bradley Street and the Helensville pump station – is closed to all light motor vehicle traffic for at least the next 24 hours due to flooding. Heavy vehicles and four-wheel-drive vehicles will be permitted through unless the flooding worsens. From 5pm tonight until 7am tomorrow morning (Saturday 22 June) the road will be closed to all vehicles.

Transit New Zealand advises motorists travelling on SH16 to bypass Helensville by using the detours which will be clearly signposted.

Northbound motorists will need to turn along Taylor Road at Waimauku and then travel along Peak Road to rejoin SH16 at Kaukapakapa. Travelling south along SH16, motorists must bypass Helensville by turning left along Peak Road at Kaukapakapa and then Taylor Road before rejoining SH16 at Waimauku.

Travellers headed north to Helensville along SH16 are advised to turn right onto Taylor Road at Waimauku and then along Old North Road and Wishart Road to Helensville. From Helensville, southbound motorists should use Wishart Road, Old North Road and Taylor Road to link up with SH16 at Waimauku.

State Highway 12 between Mamaranui and Rotu - 14km north of Dargaville – is also closed due to floodwater and is likely to remain closed until tomorrow (Saturday 22 June) morning.

A detour, along unsealed roads, will be clearly signposted. From the south, motorists headed north will take Hokianga Road from Dargaville, and then Opunake Road and Waihue Road back to SH12 at Mamaranui. From the north, motorists will take Waihue Road, Opunake Road and Hokianga Road to Dargaville.

Transit Regional Asset Manager, Philip Sutton, says that motorists should take care to avoid storm damage, especially potholes and slippery surfaces on all State Highways to the north of Auckland and as far as Cape Reinga.

“The heavy rainfall over the past 48 hours has created potholes which can cause a serious hazard when drivers try to avoid them,” says Mr Sutton. “While contractors have been working right through the past two nights to locate and fill the potholes, they sometimes have to be refilled several times due to a combination of more rain and heavy traffic.”

Roadworkers have also been responding urgently to slips blocking roads and Mr Sutton says extra care should be taken in the areas where slips have occurred. While most of the slips have already been repaired, mud is making the roads in these areas very slippery.

The areas where slips have been removed are in Dome Valley on SH1 between Warkworth and Wellsford, along SH1 at the Mahurangi West turnoff, on SH1 over the Managamuku Hills and on SH12 north of Dargaville.

ends

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