Macetown slip

A slip has temporarily closed a section of the historic Macetown Road, above Arrowtown, Queenstown Lakes District Council roading manager Ian Marshall said.

The council’s roading contractor was notified of the slip by Nomad Safaris.

“An inspection confirmed that a slip has come down onto the road with a further 80 cubic metres of unstable overhang,” Mr Marshall said.

In conjunction with the Department of Conservation the council has closed the road until further notice from a point approximately 8km from Arrowtown.

“There is a closed gate at that point, about 1.5km below the entrance to the Macetown Historic Reserve, where vehicles can turn around. Beyond that point we have temporarily closed the road,” Mr Marshall said.

The next good freeze and thaw cycle was expected to bring the remainder of the slip down.

“At that point we can safely head in with a digger and clear the slip,” Mr Marshall said.

Until that time the slip would be monitored.

Another slip, which came down on the Crown Range Road yesterday morning did not close the road and was able to be cleared yesterday.