Woodville hopes Manawatū Gorge alternative build quicker than six years

Saturday, 17 March 2018

The proposed replacement for State Highway 3 takes traffic away from Ashhurst and directs it through Woodville.

Woodville residents are hoping the Manawatū Gorge alternative will be finished in less than the six-year timeframe given, as tills continue to suffer from the lack of traffic.

But the leader of a business group said there was something people could do to help in the meantime – pay them a visit.

The NZ Transport Agency announced on Friday its option for an alternative route to the beleaguered State Highway 3 through the Manawatū Gorge, which connects Manawatū to the east of the North Island.

The new route will use the bridge already going across the Manawatū River east of Ashhurst, but veer north just before the Manawatū Gorge entry, go east across the range, then head down the other side into Woodville

**READ MORE:

The Manawatū Gorge road has been shut since April, thanks to multiple landslips blocking the road.

* Alternative to Manawatū Gorge is 6 years away

* Residents react to the Manawatū Gorge alternative route announcement

* Ashhurst residents annoyed at lack of information over Manawatu Gorge status**

Construction on the route is expected to start in 2020 and be done by 2024.

The gorge has been closed since April, thanks to continuous land slips and the discovery the entire hillside was moving at an accelerated rate.

Two towns have been primarily affected by the closure – Ashhurst and Woodville.

Woodville Enterprise spokesman Evan Nattrass says people are playing up how bad the drive over the Saddle Rd actually is.

Ashhurst has seen an influx of heavy traffic, as vehicles have to travel through the town to get to the current alternative route, the Saddle Rd.

Meanwhile, the traffic that used to flow through Woodville to enter and exit the gorge from the Hawke's Bay side has almost completely vanished.

It is a cruel twist of fate, as Ashhurst residents bemoan the speeding cars and trucks engine braking at all house of the night, while Woodville is begging for the traffic to return.

Some Woodville business owners have reported revenue falling as much as 70 per cent, forcing some to close.

The new route will take traffic away from central Ashhurst and put it back on Woodville's main shopping street.

The Viking's Haul owner and spokesman for Woodville Enterprise Evan Nattrass said he was happy a decision had been made.

'But six years still sounds like a long time away, so let's hope it can be moved along quicker than that.'

He hoped the consenting process could be sped up to bring the construction start date forward.

The biggest surprise of the announcement was the new road funnelling traffic into Woodville, he said.

'I fully expected us to be bypassed.

'I can't think of anywhere where they've built a new highway and gone through a small town.'

Keeping the Saddle Rd and the other alternative, the Pahiatua Track, open in the meantime was the most crucial job at the moment, he said.

But Nattrass also wanted promotion about how good it was to drive those roads.

'You get phenomenal views across Tararua and to Hawke's Bay when you come from Palmerston North, and then you can see all the way to Mt Ruapehu and Mt Taranaki if you go the other way.

'You couldn't see any of that going through the gorge.

He believed people have played up the state of the Saddle Rd.

'They talk about a goat track, pot holes and road rage, and all that does is put people off doing the drive.

'If you remember it years ago, it has been phenomenally upgraded since then.'

He also thought the traffic issue was less about people bypassing the town and more to do with a lack of people doing day trips from Palmerston North.

'The ones going past were never going to stop.'

Woodville-based Tararua District councillor Peter Johns said he and Tararua mayor Tracey Collis had visited Woodville businesses on Friday afternoon.

Many were relieved an announcement had been made, but there was concern about the delay before construction started.

'In terms of an economic impact on Woodville, it hasn't made much of a difference, but at least people can know where they are going for the next six years,' Johns said.

While noting it was early days, he hoped construction would start at both ends of the new road to speed things up.

Doing that would also give Woodville a boost in the meantime, as workers would need somewhere to stay and to shop, Johns said.