Plans are in place to reopen a main highway in the Coromandel Peninsula tomorrow.

The Thames Coast Road has been closed since Sunday after subsidence at Kereta Hill, with further ground movement this week delaying plans to reopen a single lane.

An excavation is now required, with rock and metal to be laid and compacted before asphalting can begin, ahead of a planned partial reopening.

“In the meantime, the state highway will remain closed until we can make it safe for vehicles,” NZ Transport Waikato maintenance and operations area manager Andy Oakley said.

“The site needs to settle and allow us to compact a metal base.

“We know this closure is having a real impact on local communities and freight facing a long detour.”

Oakley said safety must come first, and they’re working as quickly as possible to get SH25 reopened.

The closure means all traffic north of Kereta Hill is using SH25 and SH25A to access Thames via Whitianga and vice versa.

Emergency vehicles can be escorted through the closure if required.