Cyclone Gabrielle: Coromandel State Highway 25 from Hikuai to Opoutere still closed after underslip

A section of State Highway 25 in Coromandel will be closed for the majority of today as work continues on an underslip caused by heavy rain last weekend.

Drone footage taken by contractors Higgins and released by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency today shows the extent of the slip and the damage to the highway.

The road between Hikuai and Opoutere will close from around 9am to allow contractors to resume work on site and will re-open at 8pm to light traffic and stay open under stop/go control over the weekend, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency said.

The road will re-open for about one hour from 12.30pm to provide drivers with a short window to get through.

Waka Kotahi has worked with Whangamatā Area School to provide escorted school bus access through the site this morning and this afternoon, and the school contacted families directly with details.

Waka Kotahi Waikato system manager Cara Lauder said contractors were making good progress, increasing the width and length of the cut into the bank to help safeguard the access track.

“We’re working as fast as possible to give road users a safe way through. The underslip remains unstable, and we need to keep traffic as far away from the underslip as possible and ensure it’s safe,” Lauder said.

“We understand how frustrating these closures are for people and we appreciate everyone’s patience with this evolving situation.”

Higgins contractors work at the underslip site on State Highway 25. Photo / Waka Kotahi

The road was originally closed early on Monday morning following a washout caused by heavy rain over the weekend.

Waka Kotahi said if further significant cracking or slippage occurred, then a full closure might need to be implemented without warning.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says conversations need to be had about whether repairing roads like State Highway 25A is worth it, but building a “resilient transport network” is a big priority.

The highway closed in January after the formation of deep cracks, slips and flooding damage from ex-cyclone Hale over Auckland Anniversary weekend, and was expected to be closed for up to a year.

The massive landslide that sliced through State Highway 25A which is still closed. Photo / RNZ

Hipkins said it might be best to “give up” on some roads rather than try to fight a losing battle.

“Do we actually say, ‘That road we give up on and [we’ll] build a different road somewhere else’? Those are the sorts of conversations we need to have in the Coromandel.

“That highway [SH25A] has been rebuilt multiple times, and no sooner is it re-opened, everyone’s enjoying it again, and boom - it gets washed out again.

“If we are going to have a transport connection there, do we need to re-route? Do we put it somewhere else?”

The highway was one of the main tourist routes for holidaymakers heading to the Thames-Coromandel region, and business owners fear its closure could lead to them losing another summer’s trade by the time it’s repaired.

When asked if the huge cost of cyclone damage would eat into the budget for projects that were already planned, Hipkins signalled a Labour government would look to increase the overall investment in the road network.

“Those sorts of trade-offs have been made in the past. Less money going into road maintenance in order to fund the roads of national significance, like Transmission Gully [and the] Waikato Expressway.

“I would never argue that those are not really valuable things to fund. I live in Wellington, and I look at Transmission Gully, and it has transformed transport for the Wellington network, but I don’t think you can do it as an either/or.

“I think you have to fund the road maintenance, the road upgrades and some of those newer, bigger projects. Transmission Gully has added resilience to Wellington’s transport. Similar to the Waikato Expressway, that has added huge resilience to that region. I think we have got to do both.”

Hipkins said the network was never going to be “perfect” and the road between Tauranga and Hamilton “needs a bit of work”.

An aerial view of SH25a Kopu to Hikuai that was washed out near the summit during heavy rain on the Coromandel Peninsula at the end of January. Photo / Supplied, Philip Hart

“Over time, we can plug in more bits and fill in more pieces of the puzzle.”

Speaking to media in Coromandel this afternoon, Hipkins said it had “quite a future of road cones ahead” as officials worked through a “really big job, not just here, but around the rest of the country”.

“I think the reality is, the work is going to take as long as it takes.

“I think what the recent extreme weather has shown us is that there are a number of vulnerabilities across the country.

“We’re dealing with areas that are still very weak now, and with more rain and moisture heading into winter, we know that we could be facing some further challenges ahead, including more washouts, more slips and so on.”

Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency regional relationships director David Speirs said it was still looking into the most viable options for repairing SH25A.

“At the moment, the site is still moving, so getting good geotech is a real challenge.

“That’s our problem at the moment. We’ve got to wait for the site to settle.

“Once the site settles, we can get some good geotech and some certainty around how long [repairs will take], and invest [in] the most viable option.”

- Additional reporting by Dan Hutchinson