NZTA works to avert highway dropout risk

A drop-out starts to threaten the Napier-Wairoa road just north of Raupunga. Photo / Duncan Brown

The New Zealand Transport Agency is moving to alleviate another threat to Hawke's Bay's main roads at a potential dropout site on State Highway 2 between Raupunga and Wairoa.

NZTA Hawke's Bay/Gisborne system management manager Wayne Oldfield confirmed the potential of dropouts on State Highway 2 is being investigated in an area about 500 metres north of Raupunga and NTZA is "talking with" local landowners.

He said some movement of the cliff face has been detected but, while it is slow, the agency is "taking a proactive approach to try to mitigate any potential problems."

One local said there had been some talk of possibly rerouting the road. There is no sign of the problem on the highway and no road-user warnings are in place, but the movement is clear at the side of the road looking over the Mohaka River.

The Mohaka Hill section of the highway further north has had several dropout issues over the years, and the threat of a serious dropout in the area raises more concerns about road access in and out of Hawke's Bay with the long term closure of the Manawatu Gorge and other recent closures of the Napier-Taihape and Napier-Taupo roads because of snow, and the Waioeka Gorge State Highway 2 route from Gisborne to Bay of Plenty four weeks ago because of a slip.

The Waioeka Gorge was closed for more than a week by a huge slip which spread across the highway on July 7, and reopened with a diversion for one-way traffic. Road management is still in place with some delays.

Wairoa Mayor Craig Little said that the need to ensure access in and out of Wairoa is paramount, and he's impressed with the NZTA's ability to get their networks open quickly and also work with the Council "especially around emergency works and funding."

"The weather events have been extremely bad this year, and I personally haven't seen anything like this in the past," he said.

His own farm is one example, losing, he estimates, two-thirds of his access by damage to roading or because it's "just too dam wet and muddy to get anywhere."