NZTA says State Highway 1 will re-open through Kaikōura in time for the Christmas holiday period.





The date for the reopening of State Highway 1 north of Kaikōura came as no surprise to the electorate's MP.

Stuart Smith let slip the opening date of the earthquake-stricken highway at an election event in August this year and claimed it was an "educated guess".

That educated guess has proved correct, after the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) confirmed on Friday that the highway would reopen on December 15.

DAVID WALKER/STUFF SH1 work on dramatic Kaikōura coastline.

Smith said he was delighted the date had turned out to be correct.

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"It was an 'I told you so' [moment], I put on my Facebook [page] that my educated guess proved to be accurate and I'm delighted for the people of Kaikōura and for the people living north of the slips," Smith said.

IAIN MCGREGOR/STUFF Workers are still busy clearing slips on State Highway 1 north of Kaikōura.

Smith admitted it was pure accident that he let the reopening date slip earlier this year.

"It was spoken about by people fairly well up the chain but never been reported in the print media, I had known about it for a long time but I just kept it to myself.

"For some reason it went past my block and I blurted it out," Smith said.

IAIN MCGREGOR/STUFF An aierial view of slips above SH1 north of Kaikōura.

Smith said the reaction from residents in the Kaikōura electorate had been positive.

"The moment I came out with that, I was contacted by so many different people saying 'thank goodness at last we have a date'.

"For businesses it's survival or not, it's as simple as that . . . they rely on passing traffic and it simply isn't passing.

"While I got a bit more attention than I wanted, it was worth it for the positive impact it had on people's psyche," Smith said.

NZTA earthquake recovery manager Tim Crow warned the highway would remain an active construction site after it reopened on December 15.

"It will look like it's unfinished, but it will be in a safe state for the public to use."

DAVID WALKER/STUFF One of the slip sites above State Highway 1 south of Kaikōura.

Motorists were advised to allow five-and-a-half hours to drive the coastal route between Picton and Christchurch, an hour less than the alternative inland route.

The highway will only be open during daytime hours, and with unsealed sections, lane closures and stop-go traffic control.

Some temporary day closures were also possible and earthquake recovery work would continue through early next year.

DAVID WALKER/STUFF Abseilers perched high above State Highway 1 south of Kaikōura, work at stabilising slip sites with wire mesh.

John Bond, who represents the upper South Island for the Road Transport Association, said the reopening announcement was good news, but some trucks would continue to take the inland route because of limitations such as stop-go signs and daylight opening only on SH1.

"They have done a fantastic job, and always kept us informed. But perhaps the cars and campervans can use the coast route to get things happening for the economy in Kaikōura. That will take the congestion off the inland route and leave it for the truckies."

Crow said there would be three or four areas where drivers could pull off the new SH1 for a rest and to take in the views.

DAVID WALKER/STUFF Abseilers at work.

"However, we do need a lot of the space as well, this is a very constrained corridor."

He said where the highway passed Ohau Point, the site of the largest slip, the road would reopen at half of its final height as work building seawalls continued.

"We'll still have a lot of work to go, but what we'll be doing is building a temporary road so that we'll have over Christmas two-lane traffic."

ANAN ZAKI/STUFF Stuart Smith's "educated guess" on the highway turns out to be true.

After Christmas, that section was likely to go back to one lane with stop-go sections so seawall construction could continue.

It was misleading to see a construction site and think finishing was a way off as "the final work, to get traffic to be able to run on this, is actually probably the quickest part", he said.

"What you don't see is all the groundwork that it takes, and a lot of that work is actually scaling, sluicing, getting it safe."

DAVID WALKER/STUFF Aerial view of the work happening on State Highway 1, north of Kaikōura.

The team wanted to get night-time running open as soon as possible, but would be using the night closures to do seawall work, he said.

Earthquake recovery work would continue through early 2018. As work was finished, contractors would switch to building the $231 million upgrade that would realign some sections undamaged in the quake and build a separated cycleway along 60 kilometres of the highway.

Highway work south of Kaikōura would also continue in the new year, but the regular midweek closures on the road would cease.

NCTIR The road fell 6 metres at a site called the Sandpit near Clarence when the earthquake struck.

Crow said the odd full-day closure would still be needed, but the community and freight industry would be given as much notice as possible. He advised people to check the latest conditions before taking the route and at key points.

He said he was extremely proud of the people who had worked on the project.

"They've put themselves out, they've worked long hours and I think they've achieved great results, despite the weather and despite all the other challenges we've got with this constrained corridor."