A police escort through a forestry track will allow Northlanders cut off by a washed out state highway to head north, or south, this morning.
Work is underway to reopen the road on SH1 in Pukenui Photo: NZTA
Work to repair the 20m-wide hole in State Highway 1, 40km north of Kaitaia is underway, with at least one lane expected to be open by the middle of the week.
The road was washed out by torrential rain on Friday, essentially cutting off access to the northernmost tip of the country.
Children who can't get to school because of the road closure have been told to stay at home.
People needing to travel past it on Monday morning could be escorted through a forestry track, Far North District's mayor John Carter said.
He told Morning Report authorities were taken a cautious approach to the use of the track, which was not designed for heavy traffic.
"Our goal at this stage is to make sure the community gets all the support it can."
He said he expected "quite a number" of vehicles to use the track today.
The area of SH1 at Pukenui that has been washed out. Photo: RNZ / Supplied
People needing to go south could meet at the corner of Far North Rd and Trig Rd at 7.30am, and those going north at 113 Hukatere Road at 8.10am.
The same system would be in place for people going home in the evening, with the southbound trip leaving at 5.30pm, and the northbound at 6.15pm.
The escort would also allow supplies to get to shops north of the washout.
But schools said pupils affected by the closure should stay home on Monday.
Mr Carter said the washout had disrupted things in the community, with tourists unable to go north up the cape, but that getting the local traffic moving was the priority on the forestry track today.
The washed out road south of Pukenui between Whalers Road and Lamb Road. Photo: Facebook / Houhora Big Game & Sports Fishing Club
In relation to claims from councillor Felicity Foy, that locals had told her they'd warned the Transport Agency a blocked culvert could lead to a washout in heavy rain, Mr Carter said he had not heard similar claims.
"There's a lot of speculation but it's very easy for people to jump on the bandwagon and be critical, but this is the time for us to be positive.
"We need to understand ... we had 120 millimetres in an hour, so it was a flash flood, and anything can happen in that circumstance."
NZTA System Manager, Steve Mutton, told Morning Report that the extreme weather the region is getting and the high volume of rain on Friday night had caused the washout.
"We did inspect that particular culvert only hours before the washout but I've been told that the culvert was submerged but it was actually flowing and the team moved further north to inspect other assets that could have been impacted."
"We are doing a permanent fix" - Steve Mutton
Mr Mutton said his team will now need to look at the root cause of the washout to ensure they learn from this.
"We have a robust inspection regime in place to ensure that our system remains resilient and open for our customers to use however, from time to time we do get adverse weather and that can cause unplanned events such as slips, flooding, washouts.
"We've got a great team on the ground who respond rapidly to ensure the highway is open as quickly as possible so when it does occur, we mobilise quickly to get the state highway open very quickly."
Mr Mutton said this will be a permanent fix and the road will reopen midweek.