Roads reopened in South Island

Press, 27 December 1979, Page 3

Roads reopened in South Island

All main roads in the! South Island were open] yesterday. . State highway 6 between'Ross and Harihari, which Was closed for several days after bad weather caused major slips, was opened yesterday afternoon. Extreme care was still required, the Ministry of Works reported. The Haast Pass highway was reopened yesterday morning, although care is still needed in certain parts. Problems associated with Bonar Creek, where a slip damned the creek for a time, and at Evans Creek, where the bridge approaches to the north and south, had been washed out, were both repaired yesterday. The resident engineer of the Ministry of Works and Development at Greymouth (Mr J. P. Kerr) yesterday praised his staff, contractors, and their staff ! members for their assistlance.

The Harihari district, I (which bore the brunt of the r Christmas Eve storm, was r -mopping up yesterday. Slips t fell behind the Harihari I depot of the Ministry of Works, a shed was crushed, t and a car buried. i The Harihari cemetery 1 suffered from the storm, silt, e shingle, and timber being!! scattered throughout the!( area. Two houses in the areal are beheved to have been;! evacuated for a time, afteric slips began encroaching on I properties. I' State Highway 80 from Pu-,i kaki to Mount' Cook was ah single-lane track yesterday |1 until the road was restored later in the day. The resident engineer ofii the Ministry of Works and! Development in South and i Mid-Canterbury (Mr R. T. 1 Baines) said the main prob- : lem was that the previous 1 storm had brought down considerable material and - had graded the riverbeds to : such an extent that water easily swept across the road. | The Blackbirch Stream 1 and Kitchener Stream unite; at Dry Creek near the I;

Unwin Hut and this was the main trouble spot. "We lost more than half the road again in this area,” said Mr Baines. The Rangitata River was dropping on Tuesday evening and there had been no further rain said the chief; engineer of the South Canterbury Catchment Board! (Mr O. A. Stringer). His main concern had! been the change in direction! of the flow. The actions of vandals who had removed signs and run-down wooden posts 'along the Pukaki-Hermitage [highway was deplored by 'Mr Baines. : “It is irresponsible,” he (said. I Sign posts warning motorists about grave! surfaces had been removed. also speed-restriction signs and! danger-warning notices. The notices were erected on various dangerous stretches, but the entire highway was vulnerable. The (removal of the signs was of I concern to the Ministry as ; all motorists were endangered, said Mr Baines.