‘Reconnecting our people’

GOOD TO GO: The new Pourau Road skirts a loop of the Hikuwai River. Picture supplied

The bypass to open up State Highway 35 vehicle access at the Hikuwai No.1 Bridge site between Tolaga Bay and Tokomaru Bay will be officially opened on Monday. 
It has been named Pourau Road. Pourau Incorporation owns the land on which Kuru Contracting, with help from other contractors, has built the road. 
“We’ve been in the process of putting the finishing touches to it — fencing and road markings and other health and safety provisions,” Kuru Contracting general manager Ma Parata said.
 “It’s very pleasing to have been able to reconnect our East Coast people.” 
The bypass skirts a loop of the Hikuwai River, connecting SH35 south and north of the cyclone-destroyed Hikuwai No.1 Bridge. 
Work is under way on a Bailey bridge over the destroyed section of SH35. 
The official opening of the bypass is at 11.30am. The new 2.2km road opens to all traffic from 7am on Tuesday. Vehicles will  be guided between 7am and 6pm using a one-way system. It will take about 10 to 15 minutes to travel at the restricted speed limit. 
At night the road will remain open between 6pm and 7am, but managed by traffic lights. Motorists are advised to drive with care if they choose to use the road during these hours.  
From Tuesday the piloted convoys from Tokomaru Bay to Gisborne using the Waimata-Hokoroa and Tauwhareparae roads will stop. 
Pourau Inc is the largest Maori land incorporation of te Potae Estate and the shareholders are descendants of Te Potaeaute of Tokomaru Bay.