The old road through the Manawatū Gorge, closed since 2017 due to slips, won't reopen to vehicles because motorists could be killed or injured by falling rocks.
A section of the Manawatū Gorge road. Photo: Supplied / Waka Kotahi
Roading officials have today confirmed the winding former link between Manawatū and Hawke's Bay is unsafe for vehicles and will remain that way.
The former State Highway 3 could be used as a pathway for walkers and cyclists, but Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency said the present risks are too great.
And, because the road won't be needed as a state highway, Waka Kotahi cannot fund future work to make it safe for non-vehicle use.
But before it cedes ownership it is getting legal advice about its obligations over the state of the road and structures such as bridges.
Since 2017's slips closed the road, motorists travelling between the east and west of the lower North Island have been forced over the Saddle Road.
The slip on the Manawatu Gorge Photo: Supplied / NZTA
A replacement highway, the $620 million, 12.4 kilometre-long Te Ahu a Turanga, is under construction and is due to open in late 2024.
Abandoning the old road for vehicle use, which still needs official approval, comes after Waka Kotahi commissioned engineering geologists to survey an 11km stretch.
It has received a draft report and Waka Kotahi regional manager for system design Sarah Downs said the results confirmed assessments made after the 2017 closure of the road.
They showed the risk of rockfall was too high for traffic, without "significant safety and costly mitigation".
Final results are expected next month.
"The new assessment looked at the risks of landslides and rockfalls over the next 20 years, and considered how the road and existing infrastructure such as bridges, retaining walls and rock fall mesh might deteriorate over time," Downs said.
"The assessment concluded that much of the gorge, including an almost 4km-long section in the middle, would expose people travelling in vehicles to an unacceptably high risk of injury or death."
The new assessment looked at risks to people in vehicles, as well as people walking or running, biking or riding a horse through the gorge.
It found motorists were at risk in two ways, because they could drive into a slip or be hit by rockfall.
Risks reduced for people out of vehicles, the assessment found, because the slower speeds of recreational users meant they could avoid slips that had already fallen, but work was needed to support safe public access.
The assessment found cyclists could use the route, facing only "tolerable risk", if some sections were cleared.
Well-worn track formed
The old route is fenced off. However, the fencing is often broken and a well-worn track is being carved out by people on foot walking or running along the former road, past signs warning they are using it at their own risk.
"There's been a lot of repairs done to the gates at either end," Downs said.
"At the present time the conditions mean it is simply too hazardous to allow public access of any form on the route of the old highway.
"We want to remind everyone that it is not safe to proceed beyond the locked gates at the entrances to the gorge."
Roading officials would work with interested parties on what happened next.
If funding was found to make the route safe for non-motorists, "appropriate public access" could be provided.
Anthony Behrens is a regular user of the old road for biking and walking.
An adviser to Horizons Regional Council's transport committee, Behrens said Waka Kotahi's move won't make any difference to him nor other users of the route.
He said after years of people walking the former highway, a well-trodden track had formed.
"It's no more dangerous than any track you walk in the Ruahine Range or Tararua Range."
Developing a shared pathway would have positives for tourism. For example, it would complete the Tour Aotearoa, a cycling route from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South Island that presently had no safe route between Manawatū and Hawke's Bay, he said.
The old road was often closed because of slips and rockfall, including for long periods in 2011-12 and 1995.