Blue Spring walkway repair could cost nearly $1 million

Thursday, 23 May 2024

A part of Putāruru’s Blue Spring Te Waihou Walkway was closed in June last year with the rest of the track closed in November.

Putāruru’s popular Blue Spring Te Waihou Walkway should be re-opened in time for summer after part of the track was closed due to storm damage almost a year ago.

However, according to the South Waikato District Council’s acting executive manager for delivery, Nick Murphy, costs to repair the walkway could reach up to a million dollars.

Part of the walkway, about 5km north of Putāruru, was closed in June last year after a rockfall forced the council to close the main carpark entrance near Leslie Rd.

Visitors using an alternative entrance to the walkway on State Highway 28 meant the entire trail had to be closed due to safety concerns.

However, visitors using the Whites Rd carpark on State Highway 28 were spilling out onto the busy highway and parking on broken yellow lines causing problems for trucks and other road users, leading to the council having to close the entire walkway.

At the time, the council said the 4.5km walkway, opened in the early 2000s, should be reopened by November 2024.

Murphy said councillors would receive an update on the project at a meeting next week, but was confident the council would meet its target of a November opening.

“Resource consent has been issued from the Waikato Regional Council and we are currently going through an open public tender process.

The Blue Spring Te Waihou Walkway near Putāruru is one of the Waikato’s hidden gems.

“This will allow the work to be contracted and ready to start following the winter months.

“The work is forecast to be completed by early to mid-November.”

Repair costs would include the re-routing of the walkway around last June’s rockfall and an unstable cliff face where the rockfall occurred.

“We have indicative costs through the design phase but true market costs will become clearer following this [tender] process,” Murphy said.

Mayor Gary Petley said he was pleased with progress and the walkway was an important tourist attraction for the region.

“Everything we need to do at this end has been done, the tenders are out and I’ve heard there are a lot of companies interested in taking on the work.

“Once we get our tenders back, we’ll go back to the council and hopefully, if the tenders are reasonable, approve that work to go ahead.”