Chance to walk new manawatu¯-tararua Highway
A community fundraiser will give people an exclusive opportunity to view the ground being made on a new replacement highway for the Manawatu¯ Gorge.
The Walk the New Highway fundraiser offers the chance to take a scenic walk over the Tararua Range, following the route of the Te Ahu a Turanga Manawatu¯ Tararua Highway on May 23.
Woodville Lions Club event committee member Peter Bonser said once construction got into full swing, the area will be closed off to the public – so this was the last opportunity for people to take in the landscape, and see how the highway was shaping up for themselves.
‘‘The NZ Transport Agency said we could get this one in, then that’s it. It’s amazing they are giving us this opportunity at all.’’
Proceeds from the event would be split evenly between the Lions’ community activities fund and Woodville School, he said.
Bonser said a limited number of tickets were available through the Tararua I-site for $25 until May 14 – but they were selling pretty fast.
Woodville School board of trustees deputy chairman Andrew Bolton said the fundraiser would help replace the school’s ageing playground.
‘‘It’s getting towards being passed its used-by date. I went to the school in the 1980s, and the playground is the same as it was when I was there.’’
Bolton said the walk was well worth it for anyone interested in the highway, which would replace the slip-stricken Manawatu¯ Gorge, which had been shut since April 2017.
‘‘There’s lots of pockets of bulldozers and activity you can’t see from the main road.’’
On the day of the walk, buses to the starting point in Ashhurst would leave from a farming airstrip on Hope Rd, near Woodville, between 9am and 12pm.
The main walk would follow the new highway’s 13-kilometre route back to Hope Rd, and would take about 3 1⁄2 hours.
The buses would take a pit stop near the Te Apiti Wind Farm, for anyone who wished to take a shorter 7km walk.
Both routes require a reasonable level of fitness, with some steep sections, so there is a minimum age of 10 for the main walk, and five for the shorter trip, with sturdy footwear and warm clothing required.