Source: Radio New Zealand
Damage to State Highway 35 from a landslide. Supplied / NZTA
Work is continuing on opening roads in the North Island after last week’s severe weather wreaked havoc on the transport network.
Slips and flooding have significantly damaged State Highway 35 on the East Coast and State Highway 25 in the Coromandel.
NZ Transport Agency regional transport services manager Mark Owen told Morning Report crews were making progress and a section of State Highway 25 at Kuaotunu had reopened.
However, the highway remained closed between Whangamatā and Whiritoa.
“Quite a lot of major work in there and we’ll have an update later this week when we hope to have that section of State Highway 25 open,” Owen said.
Owen said there were dozens of slips through the Waioweka Gorge, which connected Gisborne and the Bay of Plenty.
“State Highway 2 is closed through the Waioweka Gorge between Ōpōtiki and Mātāwai, unfortunately there’s been massive damage in there. Crews are beavering away at each end, they’re doing a full assessment and once we know more we hope to be able to give some indications later this week as to when it may open,” he said.
“If and when it does it will still probably be many sections of one lane, and lots of longer term recovery work required through the gorge.
“Teams are working, we’ve got all the expertise we need, it’s just going to take some time.”
Owen said crews were also carrying out remediation work.
“When we put back we do try and put back better. We do sort of try and factor in the fact that we’re getting more of these intense weather events,” he said.
“The good news is what we’re seeing post Cyclone Gabrielle is a lot of those areas we have repaired have stood up really well. So it’s not now other more vulnerable sections of the highway that have been impacted.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
