Manawatu Gorge closed until further notice

The temporary road through the Manawatu Gorge was relocated a further 5m away from the river earlier this week the current level has claimed more width. Photo / supplied

The Manawatu Gorge is closed until further notice and a temporary road will not be rebuilt.

The road was closed to traffic late last night after river levels rose seven metres higher than normal, eroding the slope and washing away slip material which helped support a temporary road.

NZTA Palmerston North state highways manager David McGonigal said: "We always anticipated the potential for flooding to cause problems, which is why we shifted the temporary road further inland and away from the river last week.

"Unfortunately Mother Nature has thrown us another curveball and the intensity of the flooding in the river has simply eaten away so much of the slope that we've lost a good chunk of the temporary road as well.''

Mr McGonigal said the level of damage meant it was unlikely the temporary road would be rebuilt, and the agency would instead focus its efforts on accelerating the construction of bridges to replace those destroyed by last year's slip.

He said that despite bad winter weather, progress on the bridges is going strong.

Mr McGonigal said the NZTA would be in a position to provide an updated timeframe for completing the bridge work by the middle of next week, but current estimates are four to six weeks.

The gorge reopened at the end of May after being closed on August 18 last year because of a slip following heavy rain. It reopened two days later before another massive slip closed it again.

About 370,000 cubic metres of material were moved before the road reopened, "enough to fill a bathtub in every New Zealand household'', said Mr McGonigal.

Woodville Constable Chris Wakelin said he wasn't aware the road was closed again until contacted by APNZ.

"It's a major arterial route for the town and people travelling through to the west side of the country,'' he said.

Residents are "massively affected'' when the gorge is closed.

"Police-wise, we get a lot of traffic incidents on the alternate routes ... a heap of crashes, and driving complaints.''

Tararua District Mayor Roly Ellis said the latest closure was "very disappointing''.

He said it had been extremely hard on lWoodville businesses which rely on the traffic the road brings but fortunately none have yet closed.

"When the road is closed, that traffic bypasses the town,'' said Mr Ellis.