Cyclone Gabrielle: $120m committed to Napier-Wairoa roadworks

A major dropout on State Highway 2 between Napier and Waikare was one of more than 100 sites of slips, washouts and other damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle in February. Photo / NZME

About $120 million will be spent on what the Government calls “immediate works” to repair part of State Highway 2 between Napier and Wairoa.

The investment is in the section from Napier to the Waikare River Bailey bridge just north of the halfway point, Pūtōrino. The opening of the temporary bridge there in mid-May enabled the first traffic between Napier and Wairoa in three months.

The new spend is 80 per cent of a $150m commitment to highway work to repair damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle, from the $6 billion National Resilience Plan announced in this year’s Budget.

It includes the Devil’s Elbow, the notorious narrow, hilly and winding portion within the 34km from Tāngoio to Tutira, which is still under speed and other restrictions. It is linked to some of the more than 100 sections of Napier-Wairoa road damaged by landslides, slips, debris and washouts in the February 13-14 cyclone.

Napier MP Stuart Nash, in whose electorate the stretch of the highway is situated, said the investment is on top of the $525m already provided to government state highways management agency Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone, and the $210m to local road repairs across cyclone-affected regions.

“Now that most links into cyclone- and flood-affected areas are open, it is the time to make these roads safer and more resilient to future weather events”, Nash said.

In May, Waka Kotahi announced a consent application had been lodged for the slips-and-rockfall-prone Waikare Gorge to bypass 6km of the existing SH2, including 3.9km of new road and a 160-metre-long arch bridge 60m above the Waikare River. That stemmed from a business case study completed in 2021.

Waka Kotahi says the Waikare Gorge Realignment project is progressing in parallel to the latest funding allocation, which involves work over the 55km Napier-Waikare segment over the next 24 months.

They are separate from - “and in addition to” - planning for a longer-term rebuilding of the the East Coast state highway network, “ which has hopes of funding confirmation in the next few moths, and “physical works” starting early in 2024, it says.

Further rebuild would be “coming on line” following further engagement with mana whenua, communities and stakeholders, Waka Kotahi said.