Editorial: Expect no quick fix of gorge road

I DROVE through Woodville this week and saw a sign which I took to be an ill portent.

"Manawatu Gorge Closed", it read.

This was, I concluded, a sign of how things will be for some time to come.

The gorge road has been out of action for weeks. The main slip blocking the road that clings to the side of the gorge is huge. It is likely to take more weeks of transport disruption before the slip is cleared and the slope stabilised.

A stream of cars and trucks must head for the Saddle Rd, now burdened by some 7000 vehicular movements a day as traffic takes to the alternative route between Hawke's Bay and Manawatu.

But Transit is not going to let anyone use the gorge road until it is as safe as they can make it and that is increasingly looking like a complicated mission.

Closure of the gorge road has been the subject of television and newspaper reports as the impact on transport and the local economy deepens.

It has been open only three days since the massive slip forced its closure on August 18. Businesses estimate the closure has cost an extra $20,000 on fuel for the longer drive times.

The impact on the Tararua and Central Hawke's Bay areas has been particularly tough, underlining the critical nature of this fragile transit link between Manawatu, the Bay and Wairarapa.

Tararua District Council has laid a truck load of hot mix on parts of the Saddle Road to try and hold it together. It is literally breaking up under the strain of so many trucks and cars.

So what is the answer - how do we protect the gorge road in future?

The answer, it appears, is that there is no easy answer. The engineering required to rebuild this road as a modern, safe corridor would be eye-wateringly expensive.

A project of that scale is unlikely to happen until such time as it is deemed a national priority. With the Government's eyes on the rebuild of Christchurch, we may have to settle on patch-up jobs on the gorge road for years to come.