Main road to Far North reopens for Christmas holidays, five months after slips

Thursday, 17 December 2020

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency Northland system manager Jacqui Hori-Hoult explains the difficulty of opening State Highway 1 south of Kaitāia after the July 2020 storm. (Video first published October 2020.)

Far North locals and holidaymakers will have their traffic woes eased when State Highway 1 at Mangamuka Gorge opens to light vehicles from midday on Friday.

The road is the quickest route north to Kaitāia, Ninety Mile Beach and Cape Reinga, but it has been closed since a one-in-500-year storm event in July caused a series of major slips.

Traffic has been diverted onto SH10, which serves the busy Bay of Islands and Doubtless Bay areas, causing an increase in congestion and traffic.

This photo, taken in July, shows one of the slips that closed the highway.

The closure adds 20 to 30 minutes to a trip to Kaitaia from Whangārei, but adds up to 40 minutes each way for residents commuting from Mangamuka to Kaitaia.

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Work on the main slip in the Mangamuka Gorge on State Highway 1 has been progressing well, but will now stop over the Christmas holidays to let motorists through.

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The Mangamuka Gorge after heavy rain across Northland in July brought down eight significant slips in the gorge.

Mangamuka Dairy owner Eliza Kete said the closure has severely impacted her business, and she believes the opening will make a massive difference.

“It’s great that they’re opening up, but they’re not opening up for long enough,” she said.

In the Mangamuka Gorge, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency Northland systems manager Jacqui Hori-Hoult points to slip seven, which continues to move in wet weather.

The road will close again on January 11 so road workers can complete their repairs.

The work is not expected to be finished until mid-2021 but Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency Northland system manager Jacqui Hori-Hoult said the road may open to one lane before then if possible.

Kete said she hoped the agency would leave the road open for a bit longer as the area is very busy until February.

The closure is causing pressure on the Mangamuka community, with some residents having to move to Kaitaia or get a job transfer because of the extra commuting time, she said.

The commute has also added to Kete’s expenses but she does not want to put up her prices for locals.

Mangamuka Dairy has been closed on weekends but will open seven days a week when the road is open, she said.

Allow extra time for the journey

Hori-Hoult is warning motorists to allow extra time to travel through Mangamuka Gorge, as slip repairs are still underway.

From midday on Friday, the road will open to a single lane for motorcycles, private cars and other light (class 1) vehicles, with traffic lights controlling vehicles past the main slip.

There will also be single lane access past another slip, which will be controlled by give way signs, like on a one-way bridge. There will be a 50kmh speed limit through the gorge.

“There may be delays getting past the slip site but that will depend on the amount of traffic,” Hori-Hoult said.

Buses and trucks will have to continue to use SH10.

“We understand the inconvenience and extra cost of having to travel on the recommended detour route, and we thank the local community and businesses on both routes for their patience and understanding while we worked as quickly as possible to fix the road,” she said.

Hori-Hoult said the slips are difficult to repair, as they kept moving after the main flood and created a difficult safety challenge.