Contractors have laid down 4km of the first layer of the long awaited extension of Nukumaru Station Rd to Waiinu Beach.
The first sod for the road was turned by South Taranaki mayor Phil Nixonin June.
The road extension has been sought since the Waitōtara River flooded in 2004.
The main contractor is Taranaki Civil Construction and the road is costing $10.14 million, with $7 million from Government as one of its "shovel ready" projects announced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The road is needed because access to the settlement at Waiinu Beach, and Silver Fern Farms' Waitōtara meatworks, has been closed four times in the last 26 years, due to concerns about floods affecting the Limeworks Bridge on Waiinu Beach Rd.
Construction will take 12 to 14 months, a council spokesperson said. It began at the coastal end of the 8km road, because agreement has not yet been reached with Nukumaru landowner Diana Handley.
