Road works at Devil's Elbow on SH2 between Napier and Wairoa, where drivers face lengthy delays. Photo / Warren Buckland
Road works at Devil's Elbow on SH2 between Napier and Wairoa, where drivers face lengthy delays. Photo / Warren Buckland
Road works on a cyclone-hit Hawke’s Bay highway have come under fire from a local mayor who says progress is too slow and the alliance behind the work is “less efficient now than it has ever been”.
The route is an important connector for the East Coast.
However, the alliance behind the repair job says they are working “at pace in an effort to return the road to pre-cyclone condition” and had completed work on over 100 repair sites across the region over the past year.
The highway was hit hard during the 2023 cyclone, resulting in major slips and damaged sites, including difficult-to-repair sections like Devil’s Elbow, as well as the destroyed Waikare Gorge Bridge (which has been replaced by a Bailey bridge).
Transport Rebuild East Coast (TREC) Alliance is in charge of repairing that road and is a partnership between NZTA Waka Kotahi, KiwiRail, Downer, Fulton Hogan and Higgins. It also works with local contractors.
That alliance was set up a year ago to help respond to the region’s enormous road and rail damage.
A recent TREC newsletter stated work was expected to continue at Devil’s Elbow until December, when it should reopen to two lanes.
Wairoa Mayor Craig Little claimed TREC was “less efficient now than it has ever been” and work on SH2 was too slow.
He said it previously took two hours to travel from Wairoa down to Napier or Hastings prior to the cyclone, and that trip now took three hours, due to the large number of stoppages.
Wairoa Mayor Craig Little is fed up with the amount of time it's taking to fix SH2. Photo / Paul Taylor
“You only have to travel our road 16 months out from the event, and I know there is a lot of work happening behind the scenes, underground and that, but it is taking far too long.
“When we have got this new organisation [TREC] with all these people employed, it should just be a streamlined process.
“But it is taking us over three hours sometimes to travel that road and that is just not acceptable.
“It is killing our community. It is killing Gisborne/Tairāwhiti as well and killing businesses.”
He claimed with the money the Government had put in, the road should be in a better state by now.
Devil's Elbow (pictured) has been a particularly challenging repair. Photo / Warren Buckland
He claimed TREC was “just another layer of bureaucracy” and was “replacing or duplicating what we already had in place”.
He believed TREC wasn’t necessary and it would be better to have NZTA solely in charge again, who could put out tenders for repair work.
NZTA transport services group general manager Brett Gliddon said TREC had now completed work on over 100 repair sites across the region (not just SH2) and were continuing work on another 40 sites.
He said SH2 from Wairoa to Napier had been badly damaged, particularly in areas such as Devil’s Elbow, Waikare Gorge and Tangoio Falls.
“Repairs have been undertaken at pace in an effort to return the road to pre-cyclone condition as quickly as possible.
“Working at multiple sites on any section of the state highway network will cause some disruption, however.
A sign encouraging people to slow down and keep safe around road works on SH2. Photo / Warren Buckland
“TREC is managing this as best as possible and the work is being co-ordinated to manage overall travel times.”
Transport Minister Simeon Brown, who visited Hawke’s Bay earlier this month, said the Government had provided around $250 million of additional funding in the Budget to ensure the state highway network across Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti can be fully recovered.
“TREC needs to ensure they communicate better, and efficiently deliver the projects that the local community needs to see completed.”
“The proposed Waikare Gorge realignment has not been funded,” Gliddon said.
“Rebuild funding for projects like this will be subject to future funding considerations and rebuild projects will need to seek funding approval from NZTA through the National Land Transport Fund (NLTF).”
A TREC email update, following the Budget, stated that projects submitted to the NLTF were competing for funding against other projects, meaning their progression was not guaranteed.
Wairoa Mayor Craig Little said it would be a waste of time and money to rebuild the Waikare Gorge bridge at the site of the current Bailey bridge, and the region needed the Waikare Gorge bridge realignment project to go ahead in future.
Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.
