People who are travelling south of the Selwyn River/Waikirikiri bridge in Canterbury this weekend should be aware of slight delays at the rail level crossing at Selwyn Lake Road.

The NZ Transport Agency and KiwiRail will be working to upgrade the rail level crossing on SH1 south of the bridge this weekend.

The work at Selwyn Lake Road will start at midday, Saturday, 23 November and go through to 6am Monday, 25 November.  People should expect slight delays and, for some of this time, a detour will be in place. (See map below)

NZTA journey manager Tresca Forrester says this work will improve the rail and road crossing surface so that it is smoother and safer to drive across.

“Early next year, we‘ll be back to improve road markings and signs – a simple but effective way of giving drivers an early warning that they are approaching the crossing.”

Overnight detour Sunday early hours

To make improvements this weekend, the crossing will be closed overnight, between 2am and 8am on Sunday 24 November.

Over this time, drivers heading north on SH1 will need to turn right on to Boundary Creek Road, take a left onto Rakaia Selwyn Road and then a left onto Selwyn Lake Road. They can then follow Selwyn Lake Road to where it joins SH1.

Drivers heading south on SH1 will need to turn left onto Selwyn Lake Road, then right onto Rakaia Selwyn Road, and then right onto Boundary Creek Road. This detour will be clearly signposted.  

“For the rest of the weekend, we will have a temporary crossing in place and so people should expect some short delays,” says Forrester.