Pub owners relieved road reopened

UP AND RUNNING: Shelley and Pat Tasker, owners of the Avoca Hotel at Upokongaro, are glad SH4 has reopened a month after it was closed because of slips and washouts.PHOTO/ STUART MUNRO 210715WCSMUPOK1

Reopening of State Highway 4 between Wanganui and Raetihi has brought some relief for Shelley and Pat Tasker, owners of the Avoca Hotel north of thecity.

Slips and washouts closed the highway from the weekend of June 20-21 and the "road closed" signs were finally removed on Monday, 30 days later.

The state highway runs past the front doors of the Taskers pub at Upokongaro and for nearly a fortnight without regular business things were starting to hurt, according to Mr Tasker.

The problem was SH4 was passable for about 15km beyond their pub but with traffic being stopped just north of the city boundary it meant customers never got as far as the village.

Initially Mr Tasker's beef was with the NZ Transport Agency which is responsible for state highways. He contacted the agency explaining his concerns but said he was not impressed with "NZTA's lack of engagement and their attitude".

However, contacted by the Chronicle, David McGonigal, NZTA's regional highways manager, said SH4 was closed due to safety concerns.

Mr McGonigal said while there were cordons in place stopping traffic, they were allowing access to the school and Upokongaro village businesses.

"We know that the highway is a lifeline to local businesses and residents, and our contractors are working overtime to get the job done as quickly as possible," he said.

But yesterday Mr Tasker said he was still not satisfied with NZTA's response and would be writing to the Minister of Transport.

After the Chronicle published the Taskers' story about three weeks ago, customers started returning and business is slowly getting back to normal.

Mr Tasker said the locals especially had been "hugely" supportive of their business despite the road restrictions.

"We've also had people from town coming out for a meal, so that's been great."

He said their business was worst affected in the first week after the June storm.

The cafe in the village was still shut but the owner had gone to Europe before the floods and was not planning to reopen until next month anyway.

"Most of his business is through traffic and it's a different profile to us but he would have felt the impact of the road being closed for all this length of time," Mr Tasker said.

He said the men manning the road blocks bore the brunt of motorists' complaints but had done "a great job".