Loathing life as a highway town

The days of peace and quiet may be gone for good for some Ashhurst residents as the closure of the Manawatu Gorge drives traffic their way indefinitely.

The gorge route, between Woodville and Palmerston North, has been closed since April 24 after slips blocked both lanes.

On Friday, the New Zealand Transport Agency announced it had pulled out contractors working in the gorge after engineers confirmed a large area of rock face was highly unstable, with an imminent risk of further significant slips or rockfalls.

The discovery has meant State Highway 3 through the gorge may be closed indefinitely.

Traffic must now go around the gorge via Saddle Rd or the Pahiatua Track, but it is the Saddle Rd which will bear the brunt of the pressure.

NZTA highway manager Ross I’anson has said work to upgrade the road would be done under urgency while long-term options to bypass or replace the gorge were discussed.

‘‘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.’’

The Saddle Rd diversion takes heavy trucks and cars along Salisbury St, which runs parallel to Ashhurst’s town centre.

Residents on the street had a common message when the Standard visited - sort it out, fast.

Salisbury St residents Heather and Cameron Mccarthy thought it was only a matter of time before there was an accident.

Heather Mccarthy said cars were speeding down Salisbury St, or trying to get around the trucks by using side streets.

‘‘They need more police out here. There are kids that play on these streets.

‘‘It’s only going to take one stray ball and people speeding for something to happen.’’

The road was not designed for heavy traffic, and any repairs had not worked well, she said.

‘‘The road is getting cut up. All they’ve done is put patches on it, and it’s already been cut up again.’’

Cameron Mccarthy said barriers had been put along the sides of the street a few weeks ago, presumably in an effort to slow traffic down.

The commute home was much worse, thanks to everyone trying to get over the Saddle Rd before traffic got heavy, he said.

‘‘It seems they have given up on the gorge, but the other options are not good options.

‘‘It’s the quickest option to get through the ranges and they just have to make it safe.’’

Novena Jorgensen said the noise of trucks all hours of the night ‘‘does your head in’’.

Her family had moved to Ashhurst for peace and quiet, but those days appeared to be over.

‘‘We just got used to enjoying a lifestyle and we no longer have [it].’’

While the general traffic noise faded into the background after a time, the stench of cattle trucks wafting up the driveway was harder to get used to, she said.

‘‘We just got used to enjoying a lifestyle and we no longer have [it].’’ Novena Jorgensen, Ashhurst resident