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

Roadworks to seal Forgotten World Highway to continue in new year

Finn Williams
By Finn Williams
Multimedia journalist·Whanganui Chronicle·
28 Dec, 2023 01:22 AM3 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

Roadworks to seal Tāngarākau Gorge on the Forgotten World Highway will continue in the new year.

Roadworks to seal Tāngarākau Gorge on the Forgotten World Highway will continue in the new year.

Work to seal the Forgotten World Highway will continue in the new year with the entire road expected to be sealed by the end of 2024.

An unsealed 12km section of State Highway 43/Forgotten World Highway at Tāngarākau Gorge will be chip-sealed to make the road safer and more accessible.

Work on the project has been under way since October with crews completing drainage and pavement work and building 600 metres of underground stormwater pipes and gutters.

Crews have also built 155m of reinforced concrete roadside barrier beams, upgraded 27 culvert pipes and built 11 timber and rock retaining walls along a total length of 2.7km.

The entire highway is on track to be sealed by the end of 2024 to provide a more resilient and safer connection between Stratford and Taumarunui.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

New Zealand Transport Association (Waka Kotahi) project manager Sree Nutulapati said additional funding has been secured to build more retaining walls through the gorge.

“The retaining walls are a really important part of the sealing project – the new retaining walls will help protect the road from dropping out during weather events, greatly improving the reliability of this route for locals and visitors,” Nutulapati said.

Due to the narrowness of the road, daytime closures will be in place from January 9 to the end of March 2024 to allow for the sealing.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The road closures will be in place through the Tāngarākau Gorge from Monday to Friday between 9am and midday and 1pm and 3pm, with the road reopening at midday to allow people to travel through.

On either side of the closures, the road will also be open between 7am and 8.30am and 3.30pm and 7pm.

People should expect delays of up to 15 minutes driving through the gorge.

While the closures are in place, any through traffic will be stopped at the intersections of Moki Rd and Heao Rd so people can turn around before they reach the road closure.

Emergency services and residents will be allowed through the road closure when required.

“Putting the closures in place will be disruptive but we’re confident that by taking the time now to build these retaining walls we’ll be able to better help protect the road for all users,” Nutulapati said.

He was grateful for the support the agency had received from communities along the route and road users.

“It’s clear that sealing the gorge and making the road more resilient will ensure it can be enjoyed by future generations of locals and visitors.”

During the holiday period until January 9, there won’t be any work on the road and it will be fully open.

Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Ngāti Rangi’s whānau housing push

17 Jun 03:02 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

Major North Island farming business appoints new boss

16 Jun 09:12 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Family escapes devastating house fire as community rallies support

16 Jun 06:08 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Ngāti Rangi’s whānau housing push

Ngāti Rangi’s whānau housing push

17 Jun 03:02 AM

'This is an iwi-led solution – an investment in ourselves and our communities.'

Major North Island farming business appoints new boss

Major North Island farming business appoints new boss

16 Jun 09:12 PM
Family escapes devastating house fire as community rallies support

Family escapes devastating house fire as community rallies support

16 Jun 06:08 PM
Whanganui East gains new GP clinic

Whanganui East gains new GP clinic

16 Jun 06:00 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

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