Finish line in sight for Cyclone Gabrielle recovery work on Gisborne-East Coast state highways

On the Hakanui Straight on SH2 north near Te Karaka, an 850m stretch of state highway is being raised by 3m and drainage upgraded to reduce closures caused by flooding.

Around 90% of Cyclone Gabrielle recovery work on Tairāwhiti’s state highways has been completed in a busy 2025, an end-of-year update from the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) says.

Roadwork has paused and will resume after the Christmas/New Year holiday break.

“Traffic will return to two lanes apart from at Kemps Hill and one section of Mangahauini Gorge,” an NZTA spokesman said.

The Mangahauini Gorge programme of works involve the installation of hanbars (concrete structures) in the river, repairing the sheetpile wall, installing new drainage and shifting thousands of tonnes of slip material. It is expected to be completed mid-2026.

“The Trec team will return in early January to complete the remaining projects, all scheduled to finish in 2026.”

The Transport Rebuild East Coast (Trec) alliance has been doing Cyclone Gabrielle recovery work on behalf of NZTA since 2023.

Trec crews and local contractors have been working to restore two-lane access and build resilience on the state highway network throughout Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay.

“Across the 500km of state highway network in the region (SH2 and SH35), Trec has been focused on repairing 180 ‘faults’, which include slips under the road, slips over the road, culvert replacements and repairs.

“So far, 166 of those faults have been completed,” the spokesman said.

Trec project manager Richard Bayley said crews had worked solidly throughout the year, with the support of local contractors and communities, to complete projects and keep the highways open.

“It’s been another busy year, and we’d like to thank the community for their patience as the recovery work has continued. Their support makes our job so much easier, and we don’t take that support for granted,” Bayley said.

“We couldn’t deliver the work without the ongoing partnership and support of hapū kaitiaki and local contractors who continue to deliver great work on the state highway network.

“Around 80% of our East Coast recovery construction work is delivered by local contractors. Together, we’ve started construction on some of our most complex projects this year.

“This includes the last and largest stage of river management work at Mangahauini Gorge on SH35, the bridge rebuild at Hikuwai and two sites with upgrades to prevent flooding – the Hakanui Straight project on SH2 near Te Karaka and Rototahe on SH35, north of Tolaga Bay,” Bayley said.

“We’ve also repaired numerous underslips, improved drainage, cleared silt from streams, and restored sections of highway back to two lanes.

“Thank you to our iwi and hapū partners, who have continued to work closely with us to deliver better outcomes for communities.”