Manawatu Gorge re-route can’t come soon enough

WOODVILLE residents are hoping the Manawatu¯ Gorge alternative will be finished in less than the six-year timeframe given, as tills continue to suffer from the lack of traffic.

But the leader of a business group said there was something people could do to help in the meantime – pay them a visit.

The NZ Transport Agency announced on Friday its option for an alternative route to the beleaguered State Highway 3 through the Manawatu¯ Gorge, which connects Manawatu¯ to the east of the North Island but which has been closed since April.

The new route will use the bridge already going across the Manawatu¯ River east of Ashhurst, but veer north just before the Manawatu¯ Gorge entry, go east across the range, then head down the other side into Woodville

Construction on the route is expected to start in 2020, and be done by 2024.

Two towns have been primarily impacted by the closure – Ashhurst has seen an influx of heavy traffic while the traffic that used to travel through Woodville to enter and exit the gorge from the Tararua side has almost completely vanished.

It is a cruel twist of fate, as Ashhurst residents bemoan the speeding cars and trucks engine braking at all house of the night, while Woodville is begging for the traffic to return.

The Viking’s Haul owner and spokesman for Woodville Enterprise, Evan Nattrass, said six years ‘‘still sounds like a long time away, so let’s hope it can be moved along quicker than that.’’