Concerns about last week's prolonged closure of State Highway 88 to Port Chalmers will be voiced at the next meeting of the Chalmers Community Board, chairwoman Jan Tucker says.
Mrs Tucker said the road's closure for more than five hours last Thursday - after a car and truck collided, killing Liam Christopher Stevenson (16) - showed Port Chalmers was vulnerable to isolation in a major emergency.
There was a lack of information for motorists after the closure, and any repeat during a cruise ship visit could cause headaches for tourist buses, she warned.
"To me it was ridiculous that it was closed for five hours ... If there had been a cruise ship in, at that time of the day, there's all the returning tourist buses coming [back] to the ship. How would they have got there?"
Traffic was diverted on to Upper Junction and North roads after the 3.55pm crash, with SH88 not reopened until 9.30pm, after a police serious crash investigator travelled to Dunedin from Alexandra.
The crash came days after strong winds on May 12 brought down trees on roads in and out of Port Chalmers.
Motorists were also not given adequate warning of the disruptions caused by the wind storm, or details of the detours, she said.
"It was of concern to us ... every alternative route out was virtually blocked by trees down."
The board would discuss both incidents on June 1, with an NZTA representative also present, she said.
"It just seems to me that there's no emergency plan for SH88. If there's a major incident, there's a whole lot of issues that have arisen over those two things, to be quite honest."
