SH1 across Northland’s Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend – from Thursday 28 March to Tuesday 2 April – with repair work pausing for the holiday traffic.

Weather events last year caused severe under and over-slips on the critical route, and Waka Kotahi NZTA has since undertaken extensive works to strengthen the resilience of the corridor.

Work is currently underway to ensure the resilience of the route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north.

The Hills have been temporarily closed so work could be done faster to make the road more reliable for people before winter. Waka Kotahi NZTA have said a huge amount of work has been undertaken so far and the project team is well on track to complete the remaining work requiring a full closure after the Easter break.

Steve Mutton, director regional relationships NZTA, said there have been more than 520 staff working on the project, many of them locals, who have worked day and night excavating, hydroseeding, installing retaining walls and cutting over 127,000m³ of soil.

“We’d also like to thank the Northland community, freight groups, industries and all road users who have been patient with us while this critical route has been closed,” Mutton said.

“We know that this is an inconvenience and the detour routes do take longer, especially for freight, and we hope that this brief re-opening will provide some reprieve ahead of the final closure block next month,”

Following Easter, SH1 at the Brynderwyn Hills will close again from 3 April to 13 May for project completion.