Second Day for Waioweka Gorge Essential Travel Convoys

Yesterday three convoys from each direction followed a pilot vehicle through the Gorge, with more planned for today.

Three convoys drove from the Historic Tauranga Bridge towards Gisborne at 7.00am, 11:00am, and 5.00pm yesterday.

Another three convoys left from Te Wera Road intersection (west of Matawai) towards Ōpōtiki at 9.00am, 1.00pm, and 7.00pm. 

Around 48 vehicles joined the first convoy yesterday morning. 

NZTA said people joining the convoys should only be using it for essential travel, and they could be cancelled if weather conditions or risk assessments change.

NZTA Bay of Plenty Systems Manager Sandra King said "We want people to just avoid unnecessary travel - so we want to keep the freight moving, we want people that have appointments they need to get to and connections they need to make."

"But if you don't need to go, please just hold fire for now until we're working hard to try and get it open as soon as we can, but we need to make sure everyone's safe while they travel through there." 

Residents who need to travel have been given the opportunity to join convoys when they pass their properties. 

"We've been working with them prior to the convoys, so if they're needing to get out or they're needing supplies coming in, we've been working with them as part of the construction process."

She said residents have been offered an escort through if they are in need of urgent assistance or need to get to appointments. 

She said those driving in the convoys should be aware they are entering a construction zone and urges them to closely follow instructions. 

A recovery team will also be assessing slips in the Gorge today. 

King said experts "are going to look at each individual site, each of the individual slip sites, and identify what recovery works are needed and what's needed to plan towards getting the road open under stop-go scenarios."

She said the recovery team will "give us a bit of a plan of attack," which will influence reopening. 

The work to get to this point has been nonstop she said.

Crews of 50 people have worked everyday for three weeks at 40 sites, including 8 major slips.  

The biggest slip, Goldsmith, had fresh slips last week, and still requires more work. 

She added "We've got a big under-slip which is near Sandy's Beach."

"There's a massive undercut around the road that they're busy trying to stabilise."

There is also a major culvert that is currently blocked and needs an urgent repair she said. 

Once the recovery team has determined what work is needed at each individual site, a plan will be made. 

King said, now NZTA have convoys established, they want to maintain them while still making sure people are safe. 

"We do not want people in there if something is going to happen based on risk assessments, but we're also conscious we need to have the road open."

"So it's a fine balance, but the driver is to get that road into a state where we can open and keep it in a resilient form."

She said there is no timeline yet on how much longer the work will take to get to a stop go point, but work will continue to get the critical route open.