Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

End of the road for gravel ...

By Laurel Stowell
Whanganui Chronicle·
20 Mar, 2014 05:28 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Visitors proceed to Patiarero Marae. Photo/Bevan Conley

Visitors proceed to Patiarero Marae. Photo/Bevan Conley

Ruapehu and Wanganui people came together yesterday to celebrate the long-awaited completion of sealing for the Whanganui River Rd.

The occasion was marked at Jerusalem/Patiarero, where work to complete the last 11km toward Pipiriki began this summer. About 70 people were welcomed on to Patiarero Marae at 11am.

Wanganui Mayor Annette Main and Ruapehu Mayor Don Cameron both spoke and Te Tai Hauauru MP Tariana Turia unveiled the kohatu (stone) marking the occasion.

Guests made their way to the gravel pit that supplied metal for the sealing, and ended the occasion with lunch at the marae.

The day began a lot earlier for some of them.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Whanganui kaumatua John Maihi, starting at Upokongaro, made his way up the road, blessing particular spots. The group with him included Wanganui District Council chief executive Kevin Ross and roading manager Rui Leitao, Jula (Sugar) Teki, Ned Tapa and Ronald Hough.

The completion of the sealing has been a long time coming.

"They've got a bloody cheek tarsealing this road after I've rattled three bloody cars to bits," Pipiriki kaumatua Bobby Gray said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr Leitao said the road has been sealed progressively from the SH4 end since the 1950s.

In 2007 there was a push to take the seal right through to Raetihi, and a budget was set. Work was begun, but the money ran out before the job was finished.

More funding was found for the final 11km. It cost just over $10 million, and was heavily subsidised by the New Zealand Transport Agency. The Wanganui and Ruapehu councils paid half each of the remaining cost.

Three contractors were involved - Inframax, Fulton Hogan and the Ngati Hau Trust, which supplied the gravel.

More tourists, especially those in campervans, are now expected to use the road. It is also part of the Mountains to Sea/Nga Ara Tuhono cycleway and will form part of the route for the Mountains to Sea sports event on April 4-6.

Enjoying its sealed status yesterday was United States tourist Kyla Linnenkohl. She saw a sign announcing a gravel road and was pleased to find the new seal instead.

On a two-month visit to New Zealand, she had already cycled from Cape Reinga and was planning to get all the way to Bluff.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Search for missing man continues after car pulled from river

10 Jul 11:09 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Community group seeks to manage historic reserve

10 Jul 06:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Chaos as Ruapehu council rejects officials' advice on water

10 Jul 03:15 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Search for missing man continues after car pulled from river

Search for missing man continues after car pulled from river

10 Jul 11:09 PM

Kahukura Gill was not inside the car, which was found in the Whanganui River on July 2.

Community group seeks to manage historic reserve

Community group seeks to manage historic reserve

10 Jul 06:00 PM
Chaos as Ruapehu council rejects officials' advice on water

Chaos as Ruapehu council rejects officials' advice on water

10 Jul 03:15 AM
Strong winds bring weather warning and watches

Strong winds bring weather warning and watches

10 Jul 03:00 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP