For more than 40 years it has been nothing more than a glorified driveway to Whanganui Prison at Kaitoke but now Pauri Domain Rd is going to be upgraded as a proper road.
The short stretch of roadway carries on from Pauri Rd which in turn connects with SH3, but from 1970 both the Department of Corrections and local authorities tagged it as a private entrance to a legal road corridor.
Corrections said that, because the road now gets much wider use than just traffic to and from the prison, Wanganui District Council will take ownership and maintenance of the roadway.
The road was formed in 1970 as the entrance to what was then Kaitoke Borstal. Part of the road carries on into Harakeke Forest while the other length runs past the site of the old Pauri village and provides three entranceways into the Wanganui Prison.
As the prison has grown, traffic volumes have increased along Pauri Domain Rd which is now in a very poor state. It is also a popular route used by farming, forestry and recreational interests.