Step by step on Napier-Wairoa road

A helicopter during State Highway 2 cliff face sluicing to remove lose material threatening the road since Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / NZTA

Some people cut off from crucial access to Napier for more than a month since Cyclone Gabrielle will get through on Thursday and Friday thanks to what the state highways management agency says is their “winning combination of hard work, good weather, community input and a whole lot of patience”.

Convoys with pilot vehicles will be available for livestock movement and essential vehicles on State Highway 2 Napier-Wairoa between Aropaoanui Rd and Waikoau Hill, from 7am to 7pm, opening access for some residents north of Tangoio.

But it’s much first steps, with Waka Kotahi NZTA revealing there are approximately 50 over and under slip sites between the Waikare Gorge and Tangoio, with about 10 additional sites on SH2 between Napier and Wairoa, outside the area between Waikare Gorge and Tangoio.

Thus it will be up to three months before the whole journey is open to the general public, although a Bailey bridge is expected to be in place by the end of next month over the Waikare River north of Putorino, where the highway bridge tipped into the flooded water on February 14.

Traffic management will be in place for the convoys further south as will a 30km/h speed limit, and motorists are being told to stop at gates to let other drivers through, including Hastings District Council staff and contractors moving machinery to start repair work on local roads.

Waka Kotahi NZTA expected to provide an update on future arrangements for residents and stock movement access by the end of the day on Thursday.

The section between Tangoio and Tūtira has been closed since geotechnical surveys identified significant slip and rockfall risks, requiring helicopters to undertake sluicing to dislodge loose soil, boulders, rocks and trees at risk of falling on to the road.

Helicopters collect water in large buckets, fly to the site and release the water at the unstable slip sites, with crews then moving-in to clean up the material.

Agency regional manager Maintenance and Operations Jaclyn Hankin says Waka Kotahi met with the Tūtira community on Monday to discuss the challenges in restoring access, seek their feedback on how that might work and what the key priorities are for the people who live there.

“We know how difficult the closure has been for the Tūtira community, especially as we weren’t sure how long it would take to restore their access,” she said. “The community has also told us how important access for stock trucks is to support animal welfare.”

“We’re really thrilled that the sluicing work went so well over the weekend and we’re able to facilitate access for residents, stock trucks and essential services this week,” she said, but warned access for the general public is expected to take up to three months.

“The damage to this section of state highway has been significant,” she said. “Our contractors are working across eight damaged sites, including two major dropouts, which will need to be repaired before we can safely reopen the road.”

There are also multiple sites where the soil is unstable and each will need further investigation, more have guardrails that have been “taken out” and road shoulders have collapsed.