A log truck is removed after it crashed at Bulli Pt between Taupō and Tūrangi. Photo / Supplied
A log truck is removed after it crashed at Bulli Pt between Taupō and Tūrangi. Photo / Supplied
The vulnerability of State Highway 1 between Taupō and Bulli Pt has been highlighted once again after a log truck crashed off the road on Wednesday last week.
The driver escaped with only minor injuries, thanks entirely to the presence of thick native vegetation preventing the truck from sliding off the cliff and into the lake below.
Costs associated with cleaning up after the crash were not minor, however, with Tūrangi businesses suffering from a lack of traffic, Ruapehu’s ski fields — desperate for a good season — left lamenting a lost opportunity during the school holiday, and thousands of other motorists and truck drivers forced to drive an hour out of their way, along the western side of Lake Taupō.
The road was closed while two cranes spent 12 hours on Friday perched on the clifftop road retrieving the truck and trailer unit, and again on Monday to remove the logs that had come loose.
Jono Dean, chief executive of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, the operator of Whakapapa and Turoa ski fields, said the road closure was an “unexpected setback” and showed the network was not fit for purpose in its present state.
“It’s unfortunate and disappointing that the national arterial network isn’t good enough.”
“It’s not ideal, that’s for sure.”
Taupō MP Louise Upston was due to show National Party leader Chris Luxon the troublesome stretch of road around Bulli Pt/Te Poporo on Friday, before a public meeting in Taupō, but that had to be cancelled due to the road being closed at both the Taupō and Tūrangi ends.
A log truck is removed after it crashed at Bulli Pt between Taupō and Tūrangi. Photo / Supplied
The irony wasn’t a lost opportunity, though, with Upston saying a solution for Bulli Pt was her top roading priority for the region.
“Part of the plan was to take the leader of the National Party down State Highway 1, to explain why that’s the top priority in this region,” she told about 200 people, gathered in and around the East Wing of the Great Lake Centre for Luxon’s meeting, who erupted into laughter.
“As I say, the biggest project for me locally is State Highway 1, in all seriousness; and I know that the improvements on that road, not only is it about safety and productivity and efficiency, it is also making sure the lake is protected and we don’t have things that fall into it.”
Luxon experienced what many regular users of the highway have to endure whenever there is a crash or roadworks on the narrow stretch of road carved into the cliffs beside the lake, with the usual 90-minute return trip from Taupō to Tūrangi stretching into a 3.5-hour trip around the western side of the lake.
“I’ve had a lot of earful from Louise about the roads, and rest assured I’ve registered all of that, but it was a bit like a family holiday in the car,” Luxon said, with Upston, himself and National’s police and corrections spokesman Mark Mitchell sharing a vehicle on their visit to Tongariro Prison near Tūrangi.
A Waka Kotahi NZTA spokesperson said Geotech had assessed the site of the latest crash and found “cosmetic but no structural damage” to the retaining wall at the top of Bulli Pt.
Bulli Pt, between Taupō and Tūrangi. Photo / Dan Hutchinson
The long-term realignment of SH1 around Bulli Pt is the long-term solution for the route. That was costed at $950 million in 2017, but would probably be far more expensive now, given the rate of inflation in recent years.
In the meantime, Budget 2023 includes just $4 million to fix two trouble spots near Bulli Pt. That would involve widening the road and installing a new retaining wall at two areas north of Bulli Pt. A date has yet to be set for that work.
Commuters are also in for significant delays later in the year when the road at Halletts Bay, 2.5km north of Te Pōporo/Bulli Point, will be closed for up to six days, from 9am-2.30pm to replace structural layers under the road. This work was due to be done in February but had to be postponed because of damage to other parts of the highway network from Cyclone Gabrielle.
