NZTA and TREC have restored the road along State Highway 2 at Devil’s Corner.
An infamous section of State Highway 2 north of Napier has reopened to two-way traffic for the first time since Cyclone Gabrielle smashed through it.
The Transport Rebuild East Coast (TREC) alliance has now completed 88% of cyclone recovery work on the region’s state highway network, which means all sitesmanaged by the alliance are back to two lanes for the first time since Cyclone Gabrielle hit.
The final piece of that puzzle was Devil’s Corner, just south of Devil’s Elbow.
Napier MP Katie Nimon said from December 18, the section of road was fully open to two-way traffic.
“It means safer, smoother journeys for holidaymakers heading into Hawke’s Bay and for locals moving around the region.”
TREC project manager Richard Bayley said the team worked with local contractors to complete repairs to more than 110 faults, which includes slips under the road, slips over the road, culvert replacements and repairs.
A drone shot of Devil's Elbow on State Highway 2 south shows how much reinstatement work has been done to get it up to standard after the damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.
“We’ve stabilised slopes and underpinned highways to enhance road strength, and improved drainage to help with stormwater runoff, which has enabled us to reinstate all damaged highways in the region to two lanes in time for the peak holiday travel season,” he said.
TREC crews will return to Devil’s Elbow in January, for night closures to asphalt a 4.5km section.
“It’s been a long road to recovery for the network and we know it hasn’t always been easy, and at times the network has been busy with construction and traffic management,” Bayley said.
“We truly appreciate everyone’s patience since the cyclone.
“We’d also like to thank iwi and hapū partners for their partnership, and local contractors who have delivered these projects alongside us. It’s been a real team effort.”
Devil's Corner on SH2 north of Napier after Cyclone Gabrielle (top) and after repair works.
Wairoa Mayor Craig Little said it was his understanding that NZTA’s project on SH2 at Mohaka Viaduct remained single-lane and under traffic light management, and he wasn’t too excited about the near-finishing of Devil’s Elbow.
“It can take me three hours to get to Hastings [from Wairoa] some days,” he said.
Little said Wairoa residents regularly needed to travel to Hawke’s Bay’s cities for medical or dental work and have to organise their lives around six-hour return trips.
“It’s quite a frustrating drive and the biggest frustration is you go through these traffic lights and then you go through the construction zone and actually there’s nothing happening.
“They’ve got a new word for that – ‘cone-struction site’.
“We don’t mind you know, getting improvements, but it’s taking far too long, but we want to get back to normality, but if you’re going to stop a road or half the road, well, make sure you’re doing something on it, too.”
Little said it was easy to criticise, but people did not realise how much work went on underneath the highways.
