Waka Kotahi says the Mangamuka Gorge is likely to be closed for some time. Photo / Supplied
Waka Kotahi says the Mangamuka Gorge is likely to be closed for some time. Photo / Supplied
It was open for 413 days but despite a $13.8m repair job State Highway 1 through Mangamuka Gorge is closed again after several slips during last week's storm made the road impassable.
It's Groundhog Day for the Far North after one of two arterial roads that connect Kaitaia with the rest of the world is closed again only 13 months after SH1 was reopened following a year-long closure.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency says another lengthy closure is likely.
Heavy rainfall between Wednesday and Friday afternoon caused extensive damage to Northland's infrastructure and left parts of the Far North completely cut off from the rest of the country for some time.
While most flooding drained and roads have been cleared, severe damage from slips between Kitchen and Makene Rds means no one can get through.
Waka Kotahi regional transport systems manager Jacqui Hori-Hoult says a timeline for rebuilding and re-opening the highway won't be known until geotechnical engineers have done detailed assessments.
"Our crews have only been able to gain safe access to some areas in the past day, with conditions in the gorge still highly unstable.
"Even with the fine weather currently, parts of the road and surrounding hillsides are continuing to move."
A storm in July 2020 had caused eight slips on the road, forcing motorists to take a 30 minute detour via SH10.
Waka Kotahi says there are more than a dozen major slips on State Highway 1 through Mangamuka Gorge. Photo / Supplied
There are now "more than a half dozen major slips" including some underslips, three of which are currently being investigated by geo-technicians who are trying to find permanent solutions for stabilising the land.
The remaining underslips have been identified as 'slow movement sites', which Waka Kotahi will monitor for now to later decide if any long-term remedial works are needed.
Hori-Hoult said severe weather events as a result of climate change, such as droughts and heavy rainfalls, are destabilising the land and slips and closures were becoming more common.
"We understand the importance of this route to the people of Northland, and we will provide an update on the extent of the damage and the likely timeline for completing repairs as soon as our damage assessments are complete."
State Highway 1 through Mangamuka Gorge was re-opened on June 30, 2021. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Far North residents are not impressed.
Luckily, pupils at both Pamapuria School north of the gorge and Mangamuka School on the southern side can still get to school as none of the students is cut off their kura.
Pamapuria School principal Cheryl Bamber said, however, they would have supply issues.
The school offers breakfast and lunches for its pupils and delivery vehicles won't likely reach them. Instead, staff will have to go out to collect the food, probably from Kaitaia.
One of the five slips identified at the Mangamuka Gorge. Photo/Supplied
Bamber said the road closure added 30 minutes of travel for whānau living in the area and wanting to go head south.
Mangamuka School principal Phyllis William-Carty says the extra travel time and fuel would put pressure on families.
"It always stresses out the whānau when the gorge is closed."
She was also concerned about emergency services travelling from and to Kaitaia Hospital and how they would be able to access their community.
Eliza Chapman-Kete (left) from the Mangamuka Dairy is hopeful the closure won't take too long this time around. Photo / Jenny Ling
The Mangamuka Dairy has the road closure sign right outside their shop - a daily reminder that there won't be any travellers coming from Kaitaia – but owner Eliza Chapman-Kete is staying positive.
"I'm trying to think positive – it's early days. We survived okay the last time."
The majority of her customers are people driving south from Kaitaia and stopping in for lunch. Chapman-Kete might have to drop some staff, she says.
"Another issue is the lack of supplies. Deliverers won't come here freely."
A police ute negotiates floodwaters on State Highway 1 at Rangiahua, between Okaihau and Mangamuka. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Far North mayor John Carter says while the community was still waiting to hear from Waka Kotahi to understand how serious the slips from last week are, the people are worried.
A lengthy closure would have a "devastating impact on the businesses".
There would be fewer visitors, freight and emergency services would take longer to travel and it would have a negative social impact on whānau.
"It's a serious issue up here. It's a very concerning time for the community."
Carter said he had raised their concerns around the durability of gorge improvements after it was re-opened last year "but I had no response of any significance".
Kaitaia Business Association chairwoman Andrea Panther is worried about flow-on effects the road closure has on the entire Far North community. Photo / Supplied
Kaitaia Business Association chairwoman Andrea Panther says that years ago the idea of building a tunnel through the Maungataniwha Range, colloquially known as the Mangamukas, was floated but Waka Kotahi deemed the option as not feasible.
"I'm just worried that the millions it costs to repair the road could have paid for such a project. It feels a lot of money wasted."
Panther described the Kaitaia and the Far North as "incredibly vulnerable" with few access roads and no alternative means of travelling.
The detour route while SH1 through the Mangamuka Gorge is closed is SH10 via Kerikeri, Kaeo to Awanui and to SH1 Kaitaia. Photo/Supplied
"[The closure] has a flow-on effect on the whole community. It has an impact on our farmers, our emergency services, and the courier deliverers – the state highway is the shortest connection between Kaitaia and Whangārei.
"[But] we are hopeful that Waka Kotahi knows how imperative the road is to us."
Meanwhile, all Fonterra milk collections resumed over the weekend in the Northland region, Rowan Hartigan, Kauri site operations manager confirmed.
"Normally our Northland sites send seven tankers every 24 hours via SH1 over the Mangamuka hill to Kaitaia.
