Fate of coast road

It had a swift patch-up but there’s still work ahead to fix the Thames Coast Road.

A summer storm swept through the Coromandel Peninsula on Friday and seriously damaged 2.4km of the highway, the NZ Transport Agency said.

Trucks are banned on the western part of the road, also known as State Highway 25, but cordons and the convoy system were lifted last night.

No-one can say yet how long lasting fixes will take, or their cost.

The patch-up was miraculous given how the road looked just after the storm, Civil Defence Minister Kris Faafoi said on a Tuesday visit.

‘‘I think anyone would want to make sure that the road withstood a storm of that nature but it didn’t, so I think in the future we need to make more long-term decisions about this infrastructure.’’

The Government would also consider support for affected residents or businesses if local mayors asked, he said.

The transport agency will make a business case for spending on the road, Central North Island director Parekawhia McLean said.

‘‘Given the effect and the impact on our communities … the tourism that’s happening up here, I’d like to think that there will be a change,’’ she said.

‘‘You will never, ever fully eliminate this from happening given the geographical location.‘‘

The two worst-hit areas are near Ngarimu Bay, the transport agency’s Waikato system manager Karen Boyt said.

‘‘All the debris being washed onto the road and going in under the road has actually … ripped up seal, it’s washed out pavement under the seal,’’ Boyt said.

Higgins contractors made temporary repairs to the base layer of the road, but more work is needed.

Cordons and convoys were lifted from 6pm yesterday, Boyt said, but parts of the road would remain under stop-go control and reduced speed limits.The agency hopes to confirm repair plans in about a week’s time.