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SIMON O’CONNOR / Things
Traffic is stuck on SH3 near Uruti in North Taranaki, after a slip blocked the road.
Two occupants of a car caught in a skid on State Highway 3 in North Taranaki escaped unharmed, but the road remains blocked.
The landslide occurred around 2.30 p.m. Wednesday near the intersection of the Mōkau and Uruti highways and traffic is piling up in both directions.
A police media spokeswoman said a car was trapped in the skid, but that “fortunately” the two occupants were unharmed.
The Waka Kotahi NZ Transportation Agency website indicates that the landslide is blocking both lanes of the state highway.
Traffic is jammed for several miles from the access and the main road is closed at the intersection with Pukearuhe Rd.
There are no detours and drivers have been asked to avoid the area or delay their trips.
December has gotten off to a wet start in Taranaki with more rain forecast for the rest of the week.
The road north of New Plymouth is prone to slipping.
In 2014, a rockfall from a limestone cliff by the road near Piopio killed Joy Thompson, a New Plymouth woman.
In 2012, tons of mud, ruck and debris slammed into SH3, north of the Awakino hotel.
Motorists were advised to travel north through Whanganui, which involved a three-hour detour.
In 1998, heavy rains caused a 100-meter stretch of SH3 to collapse six meters down Stockman’s Hill in Mahoenui, just north of Awakino Gorge.
