Manawatu Gorge road may not reopen
Contract workers have been pulled from the Manawatu Gorge amid revelations a large slip could fall at any moment because of an unstable rock face.
New Zealand Transport Agency highway manager Ross I’Anson said yesterday that engineers had confirmed a large area of rock face was highly unstable.
The gorge road, on State Highway 3 between Woodville and Palmerston North, has been closed since April 24 when a large slip came down, covering both lanes.
‘‘Geotechnical assessments have confirmed that the entire hillside is moving, and the rate of that movement is accelerating,’’ I’Anson said.
‘‘That’s an indication that a slip as large or larger than the 2011 slip, which closed the road for 14 months, could come down at any time.’’
Contract workers had been pulled from the gorge and I’Anson said that until the hillside at Kerry’s Wall, 4.5 kilometres from the Ashhurst turnoff, stopped moving or slowed down it would not be possible to carry out further work at the site.
This meant they could also not predict when the road might reopen.
He said the news would add to the frustration and stress local businesses and residents were already dealing with.
‘‘We understand the impact that this ongoing closure has on people’s lives, but the safety of road users is paramount and the current unstable conditions in the gorge mean it simply cannot be opened to traffic until more work is done to fully understand the risks and how they might be mitigated.’’
He said NZTA was working closely with the Tararua District Council to do everything possible to help people and businesses in the region for as long as the gorge remained closed.
As the closure put considerable pressure on the Saddle Rd, NZTA had now agreed to take over full responsibility for its maintenance and management from the Tararua District Council.
This would remain for as long as the gorge was closed, with any repairs and remedial work funded by NZTA.
I’Anson said urgent additional work would get under way immediately to significantly improve the Saddle Rd detour route.
‘‘The significant length of the current closure has put the Saddle Rd under added pressure, and the Transport Agency will be working to upgrade the road and keep it safe.
‘‘The reality is that the Saddle Rd will effectively be functioning as the state highway connection for this part of the country for some time.’’
NZTA had already invested $8.5 million to improve the safety and resilience of the Saddle Rd and I’Anson said more work was planned, but wet weather had delayed that work.
Alongside work being done to address the issues in the gorge, NZTA would also be looking at a range of long term options to bypass or replace the current Manawatu Gorge route, I’Anson said.
Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith said it was fortunate nobody had been killed in the gorge to date.
‘‘She’s a pretty dangerous place at the moment so from a safety perspective they can’t open the road because they don’t know what they are dealing with.’’
Horizons Regional Council deputy chairman Paul Rieger said it was extremely disappointing to hear the road would remain closed as it was essential for heavy vehicles.
Having those vehicles using the Pahiatua Track and Saddle Rd was holding up massive amounts of domestic traffic, he said.
‘‘It will be a major, major blow if we can’t figure it out at a reasonable cost.
‘‘[For] those who live around it and those who use it for commercial reasons, it’s imperative we get a flat road open again.’’
Woodville has been particularly hard hit by the closure, as the traffic its businesses rely on has been diverted around the town.
Mayor Tracey Collis spent yesterday talking to business owners.
‘‘Today was a hard piece of news and I guess it is a bit of a shock.
‘‘We have been so close to opening and people have been holding out for that.’’
She said the hardest part for most people was not knowing when it would be open.
Transport Minister Simon Bridges said the Government was ‘‘dusting off’’ options for a longterm fix from a 2015 NZTA report.
The options cost between $120m and $1.8 billion, and ranged from a re-route towards Saddle Rd and Te Apiti wind farm to a tunnel.
Those costs will be stacked up next to the gorge road’s already high maintenance costs, the $20m in slip repairs over the past decade and the likely costs of future slips.