This was how Tiniroto Rd at the bluffs looked when the road opened again yesterday after being closed for 10 months. The reopening has been welcomed with open arms by the 250 residents who use Tiniroto Rd to get to and from Gisborne.
This was how Tiniroto Rd at the bluffs looked when the road opened again yesterday after being closed for 10 months. The reopening has been welcomed with open arms by the 250 residents who use Tiniroto Rd to get to and from Gisborne.
The reopening of Tiniroto Rd at the Hangaroa Bluffs yesterday has been described as a “huge triumph”.
Tiniroto resident Kirsty Playle says the community has fought hard for it and for the 250 residents, it means a return to normality.
Tiniroto Rd has been closed since August 2023 after a geotechnical report identified an imminent and extreme risk of rockfall.
Over the past five weeks, council contractors carried out essential safety work at the Hangaroa Bluffs 1, 2 and 3 so the Tiniroto Rd below the bluffs could reopen.
Work included rock scaling at bluff 3 to remove overhanging and loose rocks, to reduce the risk of rockfall, as well as installing concrete blocks, earth bunding and catch drains along bluffs 1 and 2 to protect road users from low-volume rockfall.
Monday’s reopening means the communities of Tiniroto, Hangaroa, Ruakaka, Te Reinga and Ruakituri will no longer have to use Parikanapa Rd as a detour or travel State Highway 2 via Wairoa to get to Gisborne.
Both ways have added hours to their usual 40-minute commute.
Playle said the reopening would make a “huge difference”.
“This means so much. Having the road closed while the work was being done meant as a community, we’ve had to delay lots of day-to-day things in our lives – work, childcare and trucks for stock movements.
“It’s a huge triumph - we’ve fought so hard to get this part of the road open.”
It has been a bumpy ride to get this portion of the road to a stage where it could be used safely by drivers again.
Tiniroto Rd at the Hangaroa Bluffs, badly damaged in Cyclone Gabrielle (pictured), was reopened yesterday after extensive work by council contractors to secure the bluff faces and safeguard road users from rock falls.
After Cyclone Gabrielle, 1400m of Tiniroto Rd was destroyed, with two lanes being scoured away to less than one in parts, and significant damage at the Hangaroa Bluffs.
It was reopened in May 2023 after emergency works, then closed again in August 2023 after another weather event, coupled with a geotechnical report that identified imminent and extreme risk of rockfall and risk to life from falling material.
In October 2023, 25,000cu m of hillside above Tiniroto Rd came down in a landslide that shunted almost 100 metres of the road downhill and dammed the Waikoko Stream.
Tiniroto Rd has been closed at the Hangaroa Bluffs since August 2023 due to the unstable nature of the bluffs.
Council Community Lifelines director Tim Barry said he was very relieved for the Tiniroto community to have the road safe and reopened again.
“We know how hard it’s been for them.
“We just thank them for their patience and are very pleased to have it open and safe.
“We will continue to monitor this area at the bluffs to identify possible ongoing risk,” Barry said.
There would be ongoing work over the next few weeks to enhance road conditions there.
“These will be carried out under stop/go traffic management, with potential delays of up to 30 minutes.”
Barry said the road would be under watch, especially during heavy rainfall which could trigger a road closure at short notice, until such time as the road could be assessed for safety.
“If this happens, the community will need to use the alternative detours during these closures.”
The reopening continued to be an interim solution, he said.
“We still have government funding of $45 million as part of their Cyclone Recovery package that’s going towards a long-term, resilient plan.
“This is in progress, however, we want to be honest and that’s still three to four years away.
“During the rock-scaling work last month, bluff 3 was also mapped for this future safety planning,” Barry said.
“We want to thank the contractors who have completed a wide range of dangerous work on this section of road, including GSI, Fulton Hogan and subcontractor AF Thompson.
“We’ll keep the community up to date with future plans as they progress.”
