Waka Kotahi NZTA/Supplied
A total of five retaining walls have been built as part of the repairs to State Highway 1 at Mangamuka Gorge. For those living south of the slips, the drive time to Kaitaia doubled from 30 minutes each way to an hour. The closure has also impacted the Bay of Islands and Doubtless Bay communities on the alternate route north, State Highway 10, which has been marred by congestion and crashes. For Mangamuka Dairy owner Eliza Kete, the official opening is a bit of an anti-climax. “It’s going to be great that it’s going to be open, but because we’ve waited such a long time we’re not overly excited now.”
STUFF
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency Northland system manager Jacqui Hori-Hoult explains the difficulty of opening State Highway 1 south of Kaitaia.
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.
SH1 through Mangamuka Gorge in Northland to reopen tomorrow - five months after monster storm
16 Dec, 2020 04:00 PM
5 minutes to read
Concrete is poured into the last supporting pile needed to open SH1 through the Mangamuka Gorge tomorrow.
Mike Dinsdale is Northern Advocate deputy editormike.dinsdale@nzme.co.nznorthernadvocat
There ll be a sigh of relief, and some celebration, in the Far North tomorrow when State Highway 1 through Mangamuka Gorge finally reopens - five months after a monster storm brought down a series of slips.
From noon Friday SH1 will be open to a single lane for motorcycles, private cars and other class 1 vehicles, with traffic lights controlling vehicles past the slip that s closed the gorge since July.