A stretch of State Highway 35 will be closing from Saturday night, in anticipation of the heavy rainfall and strong winds forecast from Cyclone Vaianu.

The road between Wharekahika/Hicks Bay and Te Araroa will close pre-emptively at 6:30pm Saturday 11 April.

It will remain closed throughout Sunday 12 April and will only reopen if and when safe to do so following an engineer assessment on Monday.

SH35 between Te Araroa and Pōtaka remains fragile and unstable following the initial damage caused by severe weather in January. This proactive closure is based on the likelihood that the rainfall and wind speeds are expected to exceed pre-determined safety thresholds at Punaruku slip between Hicks Bay and Te Araroa.  

Please avoid the area during the closure and any unnecessary travel. If you do need to travel, please take care driving, know your limitations on and off road and be ready for the possibility of flooding, slips and debris and other short-notice closures.

There is a possibility the road may need to close earlier than planned and at short notice if weather conditions change. 

Contractors are currently preparing recovery worksites for the expected weather. We will be carrying out daily patrols and crews will be on standby on both sides of the closure points, ready to respond if required. 

Keep up to date with roading conditions on this website, and for the latest on the weather situation, please visit Metservice or the Tairāwhiti Civil Defence Facebook page.

Metservice(external link)

Tairāwhiti Civil Defence (Facebook)(external link)

Please report any issues on the state highways to 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49) or call 111 if urgent.