Unpredicted snow at Milford has hampered efforts by the New Zealand Transport Agency to reopen State Highway 94 from the Lower Hollyford turnoff to Milford Sound.
The road was closed early on Wednesday due to avalanches and slips caused by what was described as one of the worst storms to hit the area in 25 years.
NZTA Southland area manager Peter Robinson told the Otago Daily Times yesterday contractors had made slow progress clearing the road, with 28cm of snow falling by yesterday afternoon.
''It was only supposed to be 2cm to 5cm [so] that's covered the road.''
Mr Robinson said if the snow stopped and the weather cleared, the contractors would try to get the road reopened by late today.
However, if the snow continued, it was possible the road would remained closed until Monday.
''One, they've got to get snow ploughs up to clear the road, and two, we will have a rising avalanche risk.''
An update on the road was expected this morning. Work on State Highway 6, closed by a major slip between the Gates of Haast bridge and Haast Pass summit, was also making slow progress and proving ''more complex than initially thought'', the Greymouth Star reported.
That road had also been closed since early Wednesday.
NZTA West Coast area manager Mark Pinner said the ''major problem'' was clearing a 50m-high slip at Diana Falls, which had been inspected by technical engineering teams late Thursday and yesterday morning.
''One of the major issues is safely bringing down three large boulders about the size of houses that are perched high up on the slip face.
''We need to get assurance that they are stable or if not they will be sluiced or blasted free.
''As debris is being removed from the highway between the Gates of Haast and Haast summit, we are also seeing the extent of damage to the road pavement in this area.''
Mr Pinner said the agency understood the importance of getting the route open as quickly as possible and contractors were doing their best to make that happen.
