State Highway 1 leading to the top of the North Island will reopen today, five days after a heavy deluge led to the collapse of 20 metres of road north of Kaitaia.
The road will reopen to two lanes of traffic and pedestrians at 3pm today, the NZ Transport Agency said.
The NZTA's original schedule was to reopen on Thursday, but quicker than expected progress came yesterday as trucks brought in 2,000 cubic metres of material to cover the drain and fill the hole up to road level.
"We've had a good run of fine weather since the washout but our crews have had to work in difficult ground conditions 5 metres below road level," NZTA's Northland manager Jacqui Hori-Hoult said.
"They've worked as quickly as safely possible to restore the highway for our northern communities."
Local kaumatua performed a karakia to bless the road at midday today.
The route across the washed out rebuilt road will be unsealed and work is continuing on the culvert either side of the road today.
Stop/go traffic management staff will direct traffic today, and drivers can expect some delays.
"There will be no work over the long weekend but work on the site will continue after Easter for about two weeks until the road is sealed," Mr Hori-Hoult said
Friday's heavy rain also caused flooding and road damage further north of the washout so crews will be moving on to inspect, repair and clean up those roads in the coming days.
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