Northland Brynderwyns state highway closure will cost everyone, truck driver warns

The closure of State Highway 1 at Brynderwyn Hills will cost about $200 each truck trip, logging truck driver Grant Caldwell says, with costs being passed on to consumers. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Every truckload coming into Northland will have an extra $200 added onto it when the Brynderwyns is closed, a truck driver warns.

State Highway 1 at Brynderwyn Hill - the principal route between Auckland and Whangārei - will be closed for about nine weeks from February 26 for urgent repairs following onslaughts of bad weather including Cyclone Gabrielle.

The highway will reopen for six days over Easter then will close again from April 3 until the work is finished.

The closure is set to add about 20 minutes to a trip north for visitors in cars, who can detour through Mangawhai and Waipū.

But that route is not suitable for freight, which is likely to be directed through Paparoa Oakleigh Rd, with heavy freight having to drive through Dargaville on SH12 and SH14.

The set detour routes for freight are still being worked out by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA), which has been consulting with Northland representatives through a steering group to make the closure as convenient as possible.

Northland logging truck driver Grant Caldwell said the highway closure will add about 30 to 40 per cent to the cost of freight coming into Northland - roughly an extra $200 per trip.

He is disappointed central Government did not agree to any resilience funding for businesses directly impacted by the closure, which was strongly advocated for by the Northland Steering Group and the National Road Carriers Association.

Recovery funding was available for impacted businesses after Cyclone Gabrielle.

The lack of extra funding means truck companies will have to pass the costs onto Northland customers, meaning consumers will wear the price in the end, Caldwell said.

“Northland is a low-wage economy and in a cost of living crisis, and we’re faced with this.”

Northland Inc research found the 58-day Brynderwyns closure in early 2023 cost the economy about $1 million a day, with wood and paper manufacturing, food manufacturing, and forestry and logging wearing the greatest costs.

For Caldwell, the closure means he is facing nine weeks without work.

He is currently carting logs from a forest near Pūhoi to Marsden Point Port, but the forestry owners have warned the detour, coupled with low log export prices, will not make it viable for logging to continue over the closure.

Northland MP Grant McCallum says having to close SH1 at the Brynderwyns is like being "stuck between a rock and a hard place". Photo / Tania Whyte

Northland MP, National’s Grant McCallum, said NZTA could not offer resilience funding and the Government was worried such funding would set a precedence for other areas with road closures.

Such funding has not been available in the Far North, where SH1 has been closed at Mangamuka Gorge since August 2022 and is not due to reopen until late 2024, for example.

McCallum said at least NZTA has been working with the Northland Steering Group and delayed the planned closure until late February so it did not impact tourism operators as much.

“We were caught between a rock and a hard place. We had to fix it, otherwise the risk of long-term closure like the Mangamukas was really high.”

McCallum said the focus now is on ensure that visitors know Northland will still be open for business during the closure, as well as improving signs and communication for drivers.

“At least this time it’s planned, as opposed to when we got a storm event and there was no planning.”

NZTA is also working on improving the alternative routes, including making improvements to Paparoa Oakleigh Rd, he said.

Northland Inc chief executive Paul Linton said the Northland Steering Group strongly advocated for a resilience fund for affected Northland organisation, once it realised the impact the Brynderwyns closure would have on businesses.

But now the funding has been denied, Northland Inc is working on what it can do to positively support Northland over the closure, including an advertising campaign supported by NZTA funding, he said.

Northland Inc is also developing a programme for Northland businesses to help them be better prepared for extreme weather events, using Government funding already promised after Cyclone Gabrielle, Linton said.

Regional Development Minister Shane Jones said the Government will keep an eye on Northland’s economic situation over the closure, but he also said setting a precedence for extra funding was a concern.

Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.