Word on gorge date awaited

The continuing saga of the Manawatu Gorge road closure will next week be given another estimated timeframe for resolution, as motorists and nearby residents grow increasingly frustrated with the disruption.

On November 9, NZ Transport Agency said State Highway 3 would be open in time for Christmas.

On December 2, a new announcement said clearing the slip would take "at least two months".

Yesterday, NZTA said a date for the re-opening of the road would likely be announced next week.

Ashhurst resident Liz Christensen said having an idea when the road might reopen would be good.

"It would be helpful to have an end in sight, but we've heard December, and we've heard January and now we hear they're only halfway through [clearing the slip]."

Mrs Christensen, who lives on one of the detour routes through the town, said she was woken most nights by trucks passing her house. The closure of the gorge and the traffic it had brought through the town had changed the way people lived in Ashhurst, she said.

SH3 has been closed for 161 days since the first in a series of slips on August 18.

Crews working on the slip site had encountered increasing amounts of rock, which was a blessing and a curse, said NZTA Palmerston North state highways manager David McGonigal.

"It's much more difficult and time-consuming to shift rock than dirt ..." he said. "The silver lining is that it's shedding more light on the geological makeup of the slope, and the more solid rock that we find, the more secure it's likely to be.

"However, the rock we've uncovered so far is quite fractured, so benching the hillside remains the linchpin of keeping the slope stable in the long run."

"The third bench is nearly done and we expect to start cutting the fourth bench next week," he said.

"Mother nature's been smiling on us this week and we're crossing our fingers for more fine weather so we can continue to make solid progress."

Tararua Mayor Roly Ellis said he was often asked "in general conversation" when the road through the gorge would reopen, though he no longer received emails and phone calls from people asking "how much longer?"

"People have sort of accepted it," he said. "People just realise it's going to be months rather than days."

Palmerston North MP Iain Lees-Galloway said the length of the closure was bound to be frustrating for many people. However, crews working on the slip were going as fast as they could.

"It's a big job but it's not NZTA's fault that it has taken a long time, it's not Higgins' fault it has taken a long time. It's difficult and, I'm sure, at times dangerous work."

Mr Lees-Galloway said the fact NZTA had not given a date for the work to be completed showed how difficult the job was.

TIMELINE

August 18: Two slips closed State Highway 3 about 1 kilometre from Ashhurst.

August 28: One lane of the road reopened. August 31: A new slip closed the road.

September 16: NZ Transport Agency said the road would stay closed until the hillside was stable.

October 4: NZTA announced SH3 will be closed for two months.

October 18: 20,000 cubic metres of debris fell in the latest slip.

November 9: NZTA announce the road would reopen by Christmas.

December 2: Clearing the slip would now take "at least two months".

- © Fairfax NZ News