Hakataramea and Kurow residents, worried about the closure of the twin bridges on State Highway 82, have called a public meeting tomorrow to discuss the issue with the New Zealand Transport Agency.
The 129-year-old single-lane bridges closed on Tuesday night because of flood damage, are expected to remain closed until at least the middle of next week but probably for longer.
Two new two-lane bridges are scheduled to be built by 2014 at an estimated cost of $15 million, but some fear the old wooden ones will not last that long.
Local resident Jocelyn McIlraith said yesterday concern about the closure and the state of the bridges had prompted a public meeting tomorrow at 5.30pm at the Gun Club in Hayes Rd in the Hakataramea Valley.
People from Kurow, including emergency services representatives, will walk across the bridges, which are open to pedestrians between 6am and 10pm each day, to be picked up by a bus and transported to the meeting.
"The actual start could depend on when they get there," she said.
Hakataramea residents rely on the twin bridges for access to Kurow for work, business, rural mail, schools and pre-schools. The bridges are needed for emergency services based in Kurow, although provision has been made to cover those.
With the bridges closed, the residents face a journey of about 160km by car to Kurow, via Glenavy to cross the Waitaki River on the SH1 bridge, normally a trip of about 2km.
Farmers face extra cartage costs.
Mrs McIlraith said Haka-taramea businesses also had staff and clients in Kurow.
Businesses in both towns were being hit hard by loss of business from tourists and people passing through.
"People feel they are not getting information about the future of the bridges.
"A big factor is the bridges could be closed indefinitely," she said.
The New Zealand Transport Agency needed to understand the impact on the community.
"If they [the bridges] were in Auckland, they would have been replaced yesterday. It was inevitable the bridges would be closed again because it's happened so many times in the past."
The meeting has been organised by Mrs McIlraith's husband, Waimate District Council Hakataramea ward councillor, Peter McIlraith.
The high flows in the Waitaki River, caused by Meridian Energy having to spill water from its storage lakes after heavy rain, are likely to continue into next week, hindering an assessment of the bridges which has to be done before repairs and reopening them.
Yesterday, the river was at 1330cumecs, down from its peak of 1550cumecs earlier in the week but still well above its normal flow of about 350cumecs.
