No respite

REGION: Residents of a once-quiet street that became a main trucking route across the North Island overnight are unlikely to get respite from sleep-breaking engine braking any time soon.

Residents of a once-quiet street that became a main trucking route across the North Island overnight are unlikely to get respite from sleep-breaking engine braking any time soon.

Since State Highway 3 through the Manawatu¯ Gorge closed in April, thanks to multiple landslides and a hillside threatening to come down on the road at any minute, traffic between Manawatu¯ and Hawke’s Bay has been diverted over the Saddle Rd.

To get to the Saddle Rd, vehicles have to travel through Ashhurst, with detours pointing drivers down Salisbury St.

Residents were supposed to have the street back to normal by mid-2018, with the New Zealand Transport Agency saying work would start on a bypass around the town in late-2017.

But construction was pushed out, and the agency’s spokesman Ross I’anson said in December the work would not start until the first quarter of 2018.

However, work has been put off again. I’anson said the agency was ‘‘investigating potential bypass routes’’, and was still in discussions with potentially affected property owners.

Those negotiations had to stay confidential, which meant it was not possible to say how far along talks were.

‘‘While we’d hoped to be in a position to get work under way by the end of March, as property negotiations are still under way and the route has not been finalised, at this point we’re unable to say when construction might begin.’’

Nic Green, who lives on the corner of Salisbury and Mulgrave streets, let out a laugh when Manawatu¯ Standard gave him the agency’s update.

He said he was not surprised at the delay, but wanted something done.

‘‘The bypass should have been the first thing to be organised.’’

Most of the neighbourhood would wake up at night when trucks would use their engine brakes, including at 2.37am on Thursday, he said.

‘‘My neighbour had been out on a night job and just got to bed, and then gets woken up by a truck going past.’’

He was also worried about young children. Ashhurst School pupils regularly walk across a nearby school ground to get to the eastern part of the town, while children live and visit houses on Salisbury St.

‘‘If my grandchildren are visiting, I worry because you are only five paces from a truck trying to get to the Hawke’s Bay as quick as possible.’’

Residents were not being kept in the loop, adding to the frustration, he said.

‘‘I know that, whatever happens, people will be upset.’’

There had been improvements to the road, such as resurfacing work – ‘‘at least we don’t wake up wondering if it has been an earthquake or a truck going past early in the morning any more’’ – but the street was not designed for heavy traffic.

‘‘I’m not very happy, but there isn’t a lot we can do about it.’’

An announcement on the longterm alternative to SH3 through the Manawatu¯ Gorge is expected by the end of March.