Dunedin City Council transport group manager Jeanine Benson said contractors completed the demolition of the boulder above the road, at Careys Bay, in Dunedin, over the weekend, using a mechanical excavator equipped with a rock-breaking attachment.
Contractors were completing a final clean-up of the road before it reopened this evening.
The remains of the boulder had been buried on site and shipping containers positioned to protect houses below the boulder had been removed from the road, Ms Benson said.
The unstable boulder, which weighed up to 100 tonnes, was anchored in place by metal rods and cables on private land above Blueskin Rd, south of Reynoldstown Rd, and was brought to the council’s attention by the landowner earlier this month.
The road had been closed since October 7. The work was initially expected to be completed last Friday, but proved more complex than expected.
West Harbour Community Board deputy chairman Trevor Johnson warmly welcomed the reopening of the road and praised the patience of local residents who had been stressed and otherwise adversely affected by the closure.
Mr Johnson, who has lived in the Ravensbourne area for about the past 65 years, said some people who lived near the road had had to make much lengthier diverted drives, and it had been getting "a bit stressful" for them.
"They’re looking forward to having the road reopened again."
The Dunedin City Council had been working hard to get that done, Mr Johnson said.
Board member and children's writer and poet Duncan Eddy, of Purakaunui, said he was glad the road was finally reopening.
Mr Eddy paid tribute to the patience shown by affected residents, who had faced long delays getting to Port Chalmers, and dropping their children off at school.
"A five-minute drive has become a 20-minute drive over horrible roads," he added.
The road closure had been "extremely inconvenient", and he wanted to strongly praise the patience of road users "in difficult circumstances".
