SH4 repairs a long haul
Whanganui-ohakune motorists may face works through to 2026
Eva de Jong
Current work on Parapara Rd will stretch into 2026, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi says.
The State Highway 4 road connects Whanganui to Raetihi and has been the site of major reconstruction work due to the impact of severe weather events as well as the difficult topography of the road.
The road was damaged during flooding in June 2015 and a major slip in October 2019, which took out a large section of the road.
“When people think there’s always work happening, that’s because we’re maintaining it to make sure it stays resilient,” NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi project manager Gareth Howie said.
There are two projects left on Parapara Rd, which includes the Te Oreore slip replacement — a slip site that was approximately 400 metres long and 200 metres wide when it first occurred.
Howie said work was in the final design stage to find a permanent solution for the Te Oreore slip, but there was also continual maintenance work that had to be done.
The goal is to begin in November and complete the work in 18 months.
But Howie said Parapara Rd would continue to be a vulnerable section of highway.
“Just due to the topography. Obviously a lot of the Parapara is nice and flat and there’s fields either side, but there are sections where you go through elevated areas where there’s a big drop-off or you’re up against a steep embankment.”
It was also difficult to complete road work during the winter months, due to it being less dry than other times of the year.
Howie said he couldn’t say whether it would be a clear stretch of road without traffic disruptions to cars coming through by 2026.
“I couldn’t answer that because I haven’t got a crystal ball,” he said.
“I guess if we look on the positive side that we have no major storm events that come through then we’d feel a lot more positive, but the weather that we see at the moment is a lot more sporadic and unpredictable.”
A lot of the feedback was that the work on the road seemed to be taking a long time, he said.
“I guess from a personal view, the main thing is that all the work that we see going through there is to maintain that connection and make sure the highway is safe.
“Although it is a vulnerable network, it’s a very important piece of network and the connectivity for communities and schools, and getting between Whanganui and Ohakune.”
He said there had been significant improvement over the past four years.
"When people think there’s always work happening, that’s because we’re maintaining it to make sure it stays resilient." NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi project manager Gareth Howie