Good progress is being made on the re-surfacing work on the Otira Gorge, part of the Arthur’s Pass SH73 route connecting the West Coast and Canterbury, says the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA).

Ideal dry and warm weather conditions have helped progress over the past two days.  (See photo below) 

However, while doing the re-surfacing some pre-existing defects in the concrete bridge decks have been uncovered. 

“We’ll repair these defects tonight (Wednesday), which means we’re only able to open the road overnight to a single lane set-up with temporary traffic lights,” says Mark Pinner, System Manager for NZTA in the Central South Island.

“This could result in up to 30-minute delays as we get traffic moving through the road blocks from 6pm this evening.” 

Re-surfacing crews will be back at work from 10 am Thursday and the highway will again be fully closed through to 6 pm at night. 

NZTA thanks everyone for their patience while this key piece of highway is re-surfaced.

Deep lift asphalt construction Tuesday this week under the Otira Gorge rockfall shelter (5 December, 2023), the lowest part of the re-surfacing area underway this week and next.

 sSign advertising the daytime full highway closures in Greymouth:

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