Decision on preferred alternative route to Manawatū Gorge delayed

Tuesday, 12 December 2017

An aerial view of one of the new larger slips on the highway.

A decision on a preferred alternative route to the Manawatū Gorge has been delayed.

The NZ Transport Agency planned to whittle down four options for an alternative road to State Highway 3 through the Manawatū Gorge to one by mid-December. But this has been delayed until 2018.

One of the four remaining options could form the replacement road to State Highway 3 through the Manawatū Gorge.

The gorge road was closed in April because of rockfalls, and permanently shut in July when experts deemed the hillside unsafe, forcing Manawatū-Hawke's Bay traffic to use the Saddle Rd or Pahiatua Track.

On Tuesday, transport agency regional transport systems manager Ross I'Anson said further discussion was needed before a decision on the best alternative option could be made with confidence.

A look inside the Manawatū Gorge months after it closed in 2017.

* Health services in Tararua improving after strain from Manawatū Gorge closure

Rocks the size of tyres block State Highway 3 through the Manawatū Gorge.

* Increase in crashes on alternative routes to Manawatū Gorge

* Councils push for southern gorge alternative, truckies' group**

The transport agency now aims to assess the shortlisted options in the first quarter of 2018 and announce its preferred route soon after.

'We are currently working closely and in partnership with local councils and other stakeholders to make the right long-term decision,' I'Anson said.

Horizons Regional Council chairman Bruce Gordon said he was glad the transport agency wasn't working on its own.

'We were giving them all our information, but [the transport agency] weren't sharing what was going to the board.

'They've promised now to open the books.'

The four shortlisted routes are an upgrade to the Saddle Rd, a new road north of Saddle Rd, a new road south of it, and a new road south of the Manawatū Gorge.

Gordon and mayors of surrounding councils, including Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith and Tararua District mayor Tracey Collis, favour the most southern option.

This route is estimated to cost $450 million to $550m and it is expected to by completed within seven years.

That route offered the chance to build a second bridge over the Manawatū River, an important part of the proposed regional ring road, Gordon said.

He was pleased the decision was deferred, as he wanted more information on the three other options if one of those was more likely to be chosen.

Gordon was expecting more information on all four options before Christmas, he said.

'If the process is much more robust, it should make the consenting process smoother.'

I'Anson said the public was unlikely to get more information on the options at this stage and there were no consultation or information evenings planned.

The indefinite closure of the gorge is costing the regional economy at least $100,000 a day, according to Giancarlo Hannan, a senior logistics analyst for Palmerston North company Corporate Logistics.

Critical of the amount of data provided to the public on the four options, Hannan said more information from the transport agency would allow companies to peer-review it.

'We need to know what information they've already collated. We have absolutely no idea what [the transport agency] and their consultants are sitting on.

'We don't know what analysis has been done.'

While the transport agency appeared to be open to the public, it had very much closed shop, Hannan said.

In a statement, Smith said it was important to confirm an alternative route as fast as possible, given the economic effects of the closure.

'We fully support the conclusion [the transport agency] reached that further work is needed to assess the four shortlisted options, including the extent to which they would respectively contribute to unlocking the economic potential of the whole central and eastern North Island region.'

In a statement, Collis said significant investment would be needed for a replacement route, so it was important that the Government and local government worked together to get the best result.