The Queenstown Lakes District Council closed the road after a 50m section of the road, about 2km from the Kinloch Wilderness Retreat, gave out.
It meant the road was impassable, and there was no alternative access to the remote retreat and beyond, other than by boat.
Retreat co-owner Toni Glover earlier told the Otago Daily Times the council had not sent an engineer on Saturday morning to check the road at dawn — subsequently, two Chinese tourists in a rental SUV attempted to drive to Kinloch to pick up their parents at 8am.
They managed to get out of the vehicle, which got stuck, and later swept into the river.
In response to inquiries from the ODT yesterday, a council spokesman said the road was inspected by a council contractor, not an engineer.
"Given the water level, an engineering assessment wasn’t necessary, or even possible, on Saturday, but was completed this morning."
"The work requires careful planning and getting access to suitable rock, as well as the right river conditions.
"Unfortunately, given those factors, we weren’t able to conduct the work prior to this latest weather event [on Friday]."
The council was continuing to liaise with affected individuals and organisations, including Mr and Mrs Glover, the Department of Conservation and Greenstone Station, the spokesman said.
"Several individuals who wished to leave since the road was closed have now done so, and council continues to provide advice to others in doing so."
Council representatives visited the area yesterday morning to assess the situation and look at options to reinstate vehicle access, both in the short term, "potentially as an interim measure", and in the long term.
In an update on Tuesday afternoon, the council said work was under way to construct a temporary road through private property, which would allow vehicles to bypass the washout.
"We are still establishing a confirmed timeframe for the temporary road to be completed and hope to be able to update on this tomorrow morning."
Until the temporary road was open, vehicles beyond the washout would need to remain in place.
While people could access the retreat by boat, from Glenorchy, they would need to make their own arrangements to leave, the spokesman said, while any queries about Department of Conservation (Doc) tracks and other facilities should be directed to Doc.
