Mangamukas slip repair not forgotten despite cyclone damage to other roads

A geotechnical assessment underway on one of the major underslips at the northern end of the Mangamuka Gorge. Photo / Waka Kotahi

Repairs to State Highway One through the Mangamuka Gorge are still being completed “with urgency” despite damage to other roads from Cyclone Gabrielle, Regional Transport Committee chair Joe Carr says.

The Northland Regional Councillor, along with Far North District Councillor Steve McNally, was taken on a tour of the Mangamukas work site by Waka Kotahi on Thursday.

The road has been shut since torrential rain caused 15 underslips and three overslips in August. On February 23, Waka Kotahi announced emergency protection work had been completed and permanent slip repair would begin.

Carr said he was impressed by the efficiency of the work, which he feared would be stalled by other weather-related repairs to roads around the country in the wake of the cyclone.

“I was a bit worried all of the problems in Hawke’s Bay would’ve seen the job mothballed, but no.”

Carr was reassured by the amount of work going into the road, as he believed there was no suitable alternate route in the area. Waka Kotahi had secured funding of $100m to complete the repairs, although they have not yet provided a timeframe for reopening.

An underslip at the southern end of Mangamuka Gorge. Photo / Waka Kotahi

Much of the work being done is around reinforcement and drainage to prevent future weather issues.

Carr said he would like to see similar work completed on strategic roads around Northland, like State Highway 1 through the Brynderwyns, to protect against future severe weather events.

Northland roads were suffering after 10 to 15 years of underinvestment, Carr said, with funding going into urban projects such as walkways and cycleways rather than rural roads.

The alternate routes to the Brynderwyns had particularly suffered, with issues identified on the Mangawhai route decades ago, Carr said.

“I was on the Regional Transport Committee with Phil Halse in 1998 and we were identifying that as an issue that needed sorting then and the Government hasn’t funded it.

“For years, Whangārei District Council has been saying, hey, these routes have got to be adequately funded and improved so we have alternate routes.”

The Regional Transport Committee would keep pushing for this funding, Carr said.