Work to restore the roading network along State Highway 2 connecting Napier and Gisborne is nearing completion, but some locals are frustrated a new road wasn’t considered to bypass a dangerous section known as the ‘Devil’s Elbow’.
For the past 18 months, drivers in the East Coast have been forced to navigate a river of road cones and critical network rebuild repairs as they travel along the highway.
“It’s time-consuming for work. The lights hold us up and all the traffic gets held up and the roads are rough,” a group of shearers told 1News while fuelling up for the journey back home to Hastings.
“You’ve had to have a fair bit of patience over the last 18 months,” another local said.
The most complex undertaking involved the restoration of the ‘Devil’s Elbow’, a sharp 90-degree corner 40 minutes north of Napier.
The section of road, which was completely severed during Cyclone Gabrielle, is set to reopen to two lanes by Labour Weekend.
But some locals are disappointed a more resilient bypass option had been disregarded.
Site manager Tony King said the elbow has been one of the most challenging jobs.
“The work is about completed in this area. We’ve got six sites active now and we are targeting the long weekend to open this section up to two-lane traffic,” he said.
“We have used over 10,000 tonnes of rock to rebuild this corner alone.”
While the corner elbow section is due to open to both lanes next week, the southern site — I and J — will remain a single lane while strengthening work continues.
It could take up to 14 months to complete.
‘A slap-up fix’
Locals who rely on the road for everyday use are disappointed an alternative bypass was not explored further.
Putorino farmer Pagen Goldstone called it “a slap-up fix”.
“There is no long-term solutions that have been even brought to the table.”
Goldstone said the bypass option would have saved time for motorists getting to town and “would future-proof from future storms and weather events — any weather event”.
“We all know when it rains there is always a possibility that our roads are closed. So, a bypass would hopefully future-proof that for everyone.”
“I reckon that the next cyclone that comes along that will just damage it all again and we’ll be back to square one,” another Hastings resident told 1News.
Following the cyclone, the Government introduced a combined agency — Transport Rebuild East Coast — to rebuild the region stronger and more resilient.
TREC project manager Richard Bayley said technical feasibility and value for money made a bypass unfeasible.
“So you’re talking billions of dollars, multiple billions of dollars for that option and when you weigh that up against the transport needs of the country overall, it just doesn’t stack up as a good value proposition,” he said.
He added that “there’s a lot of improvements that have been incorporated while rebuilding SH2”.
“So although we are just in the recovery phase where we’re tasked to put back the road to its previously level service, we’re about halfway through the recovery works overall for the whole two regions.
“We’ve got a pretty big construction season this summer.”
However, the uncertainty of the network and length of the rebuild is taking a toll on the community.
“I know the children of the community having to either miss sports practice or just not do winter sports this year,” Goldstone said.
“It’s hard to plan for resilience in the community when the people above us aren’t helping us. We were stuck in here for, I don’t know, a month. To a lot of people, that’s just terrifying. So we’ve lost people in the community because of that.”
