There’s some relief for hard-hit motorists today, as State Highway 1 over the Brynderwyns opens for northbound traffic this morning.

Waka Kotahi opened SH1 at the Brynderwyn Hills, about 53km south of Whangārei, for northbound vehicles only from 8am today.

Crews have been onsite at the SH1 Brynderwyn Hills, just north of the SH12 intersection, clearing and re-assessing the steep slip on the hill that has been active and closed the highway since last Friday’s storm.

Now the clearing work has been completed and the slip has been re-assessed by geotechnical engineers, Waka Kotahi is able to open the road for northbound vehicles from 8am to 8pm on Saturday and Sunday to help with the flow of weekend traffic.

On Monday, Waka Kotahi will change the direction of traffic flow to allow southbound travel on SH1 for public travelling back to Auckland.

From Tuesday, traffic flow will revert to northbound only until further notice.

For safety reasons, the road will remain closed overnight, from 8pm to 8am, and conditions would be re-assessed each morning, as safety is the top priority, Waka Kotahi says.

Contractors and geotechnical engineers will be on site throughout the weekend monitoring for any additional slips or ground movement on or near the road, and the road may close at short notice should conditions become unsafe.

Temporary speed restrictions will be in place.

Waka Kotahi urges motorists to use caution and drive to the conditions.

When SH1 is closed, light vehicles will need to continue to use the local detour via Mangawhai, while heavy vehicles will need to continue to use SH12 and SH14 state highway.