State highway slammed as a 'judder bar'

Na Raihania says the whole road is dangerous. Photo / Supplied

Fed-up users of one of New Zealand's most picturesque coastal routes have called on the Government for action over a highway likened to "one long judder bar".

Maori Party candidate Na Raihania has complained to Transport Minister Steven Joyce about the "Third World" quality of State Highway 35, which winds more than 300km around the East Cape. He's backed by the mayors of Gisborne and Opotiki and one of the cape's major iwi.

Mr Raihania said many locals were at their wit's end, with some saying some sections were "extreme and dangerous" and that it was virtually impossible to travel above 10km/h. Large tracts of highway had been under constant repair for years.

"The whole road is quite dangerous. People are locked in over some of the winter months and some of the roads have got huge holes in them ... Everybody is adamant that something needs to be done."

The highway was causing enormous wear and tear to vehicles and making a huge financial impact on a community that is already below the poverty line, he said.

Te Runanga o Ngati Porou chairman Api Mahuika described the highway as "appalling".

Mr Mahuika hoped Mr Joyce and ministry staff would accept an invitation to travel the highway.

"I'd like to take them on the back of a ute without any springs in it, then they'll see the urgency - they'll get a hell of a ride that they'll never forget," he said.

East Coast MP Anne Tolley said she had contacted Mr Joyce "several times" with complaints about various parts of the roading network, but noted that traffic counts on Gisborne's state highways ranged from 17,500 vehicles a day in Gisborne to just 384 a day in the north.

Mr Joyce said he had received Mr Raihania's letter and would reply "in due course".

"In the first instance, though, I would encourage him to bring any specific concerns to the attention of the NZ Transport Agency, whose job it is to prioritise expenditure on our state highway network."

NZTA regional state highways manager Gordon Hart said the agency was "very conscious" of the highway's importance to the community.

The agency had allocated nearly $40 million to maintaining and improving Gisborne state highways between 2009 and 2012 as well as an additional $11.6 million for new projects.

In recent years, NZTA had built some of the largest roading projects seen on the East Coast in decades, including two realignments costing $3.5 million and $4.6 million.

The Kopuaroa Bridge, affected by a lengthy closure this month, was being replaced in a $2.9 million project.