Nelson/Marlborough residents and regular users of State Highway 6 are reminded that the highway closes between Hira and Rai Valley for emergency repairs this Tuesday, 1 November.

The State Highway will be closed between Hira and Ronga Road near Rai Valley for seven weeks from 1 November to 18 December. The closure begins at six am this Tuesday.

The urgent need for the repair work has increased after the route suffered further damage from heavy rain over the weekend. Safety checks have been carried out and the road remains safe for road users ahead of Tuesday’s closure.

From Tuesday, there will be no public access through the State Highway 6 work sites for anyone other than contractors and repair crews. This is due to the nature of the work required and the fact a number of work sites will take up the entire road width.

Access from Blenheim to Havelock and the Rai Valley remains. However, people travelling between Nelson and Blenheim will have to detour via State Highway 63 and Saint Arnaud. This is a longer journey, and drivers must factor it into their travel times.

While access to Hira, at the Nelson side of the closure zone, has been arranged for residents inside the closure zone via forestry roads, there will be no similar access on the other side of the closure zone, into the Rai Valley. This is because the forestry roads here were too badly damaged during the August floods.

Waka Kotahi appreciates the closure will cause significant disruption for residents and regular users of the route. However, the full closure means the repairs can be completed faster, and the intention is to have the road fully restored to two lanes before Christmas.

We want to thank people for their patience and understanding while contractors work hard to restore this essential state highway link.

Further details about this work can be found on our website - Nelson and Tasman road recovery.

Detour Maps

People can travel between Blenheim and Nelson by using State Highway 63 (SH63) through to Kawatiri junction, then SH6.

While there are other options to travel on local roads from St Arnaud, we recommend people stay on the state highways, as they are safer and suited to higher traffic volumes and all vehicle types.

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