That is the message the Waitaki District Council has for drivers.
On Monday, the council started repairs in Airedale Rd, west of Oamaru, after a sinkhole was created by a burst concrete culvert pipe. Despite road closure signs put in place to warn motorists to avoid the area, vehicles were entering the road and approaching the work site, council roading manager Mike Harrison said.
There were reports of motorists being aggressive towards those working on the site, Mr Harrison said.
Driving down the road was dangerous not only for the people repairing the road, but the motorists, too.
"People are not realising the impact of the road closed notices — the road, it just doesn’t exist," he said.
"There’s no way that people can get through to where they want to go, they have to go through an alternative route."
In his years of experience, Mr Harrison recalled a time a motorist went down a closed road and drove off what used to be a bridge.
"Signs are there for a reason," he said.
Usually, there was not a great distance between the road closure signs and the work site, but because Airedale Rd was quite long, the council needed to give advanced notice of the site to deter people from driving long distances only to turn around.
The overall repair will cost more than $200,000, but the new pipe should last about 120 years.
Traffic heading to or travelling from Dunedin need to take an alternative route, such as along State Highway 1, until the works are complete. The road is scheduled to be closed until March 31.
