Welcome to the Sixthteenth issue of our….

State Highway 2 Waioeka Gorge Slip update – temporary road now open 24/7!

Restricted access through the Waioeka Gorge between Opotiki and Gisborne is now possible through a one-way temporary diversion route around the slip affected area. While the NZTA continues to focus its efforts
on establishing a long term solution to stabilise the slip face and to remove slip material that is covering State Highway 2, the temporary diversion route through the gorge is now open 24/7.

In this issue:

• Operation update
• Traffic Update

Operation update
It’s official the temporary diversion route will now operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week starting from today (Thursday 5 April). We are pleased to have full access through the gorge restored which we know will provide great relief to Gisborne businesses and residents. We indicated that our aim was to provide full access through the gorge in about 4 weeks and we have managed to reach that objective.

We are still cautioning motorists that the slip face remains active and we are still monitoring for slip movements. As we indicated yesterday, we have detected slight movement in the middle rock outcrop area, but the slip face remains relatively intact. Our excavators are continuing to remove slip material from this middle slip face area.

We will have portable lights and spotters after hours to monitor the slip face and traffic using the temporary road, we are confident that we have put in place sufficient measures to have this road open all the time.

Motorists should expect delays as we still have a single-lane operation with a speed restriction of 30km/h, but so far traffic has been moving steadily through the temporary road.

This slip face removal work will stop temporarily this weekend to allow the first few days of the 24/7 operation to work effectively. We will continue to monitor the slip face regularly for any further movement.

The heavy rain yesterday saw the Opato Stream water levels rise by 200mm, we have undertaken buttressing around the edges of the temporary road to ensure that the toe of the road is not scoured, which has worked as it remains intact. Reports from the site today indicate that the heavy rain is starting to subside, but we are monitoring conditions with an expected heavy rain forecast for Sunday.

Traffic information

Before planning your journey always check out our Waioeka Gorge website www.nzta.govt.nz/waioeka-gorge under the heading ‘Temporary Diversion Route’ we have a link to ‘Current Highways Conditions’ this will take you to a map of the North Island showing where road works, closures or detours are in place.

If there is any change to the temporary road we will update this webpage immediately. You can also call our 0800 4HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49) to obtain this information if you are already on the road.
With Easter Holidays here, we would like to remind everyone travelling on our roads to drive safely, remember to have regular breaks and to allow sufficient time for your journey and always follow the speed limits in place.

Next project update

Our next project update will be taking a well deserved break for Easter, but we will be back again next week. Thank again for your comments, we are glad you enjoy receiving the updates and the information is both informative and useful to you.

Have a happy and safe Easter Holiday!

Find the latest transport news, information, and advice on our website:
www.nzta.govt.nz