Source: New Zealand Transport Agency
Important work is being carried out to reduce the avalanche risk to visitors at one of New Zealand’s top tourist attractions, Milford Sound.
The road from Te Anau to Milford Sound, State Highway 94, has been subject to several closures in recent days, from Hollyford Road Junction to the Donne River Bridge, due to snow blocking the highway and the avalanche risk.
Check out some helicopter video footage of avalanche mitigation work on Saturday, where the avalanche lands on the western side of the Homer Tunnel at a location called Avalanche Creek.
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The Milford Road/SH94 is open this morning but will close again between Hollyford Road Junction and the Donne River Bridge at 5pm today for forecast overnight snow. It is likely to reopen mid-morning tomorrow after snow clearing, but snowfall is expected to continue on and off for much of the day tomorrow and there may be minor delays while snowploughs are operating.
Closures and management of the avalanche risk on the Milford Road are among the roles of the Milford Road Alliance, which is an alliance between New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi and Downer. It manages and maintains the critical roading connection to Milford Sound.
“The work the alliance does in this extreme environment around managing and maintaining the roading and Homer Tunnel assets, and including incident response, is critically important for this region and for New Zealand tourism in general,” says Milford Road Alliance Manager, Kevin Thompson.
“The avalanche programme that we undertake each year is internationally recognised. We take very seriously the responsibility to keep visitors to Milford safe.”
In 2023, the Milford Alliance avalanche programme won the International Road Federation’s Global Road Achievement Award for Programme Management. The selection was made by an independent, international panel of judges with expertise in the road development industry.
Until the late 1970s, the avalanche danger saw the Milford Road closed all winter. The avalanche control programme was established in 1983 to predict and manage risk from snow, ice and avalanches more effectively, while allowing year-round operation.
Avalanche clearing work carried out at the weekend (with the highway visible at the centre-left of the image).
