Meanwhile, in Tararua Country....

from the Manawatu Standard....

Here we go again: Slip shuts gorge for fortnight

By KATHRYN KING | 11:00AM - Saturday, 11 April 2015

Thursday’s slip, about 2km into the Gorge from the Ashhurst end, will not be cleared until loose material
on the cliff is removed. — David Unwin/Fairfax NZ.

A SLIP has closed the Manawatu Gorge to motorists for at least two weeks, reigniting debate about the security of Manawatu's main route to the east.

The slip itself is small, but the hill above it is too unstable for contractors to get in to clear it. Until the loose material is removed from the hill by abseilers State Highway 3 cannot be reopened.

Until it reopens, traffic will be forced to use alternative routes through the Saddle Road and the Pahiatua Track.

The Saddle Road is still undergoing construction as a result of an August 2011 slip that disrupted traffic for close to a year, and the Tararua District Council has advised caution.

Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith said the council needed to lobby the Government for more help to improve the resilience of the Manawatu Gorge.

“It's good that NZTA have improved the Saddle Road, but I still don't think that road will be able to cope with extra traffic for weeks on end.”

“It does seem like a Band-Aid on a weeping sore.”

The slip is about 2km into the Gorge from the Ashhurst end and about 700m east of the site of the 2011 slip.

An engineer assessed the hillside above the slip on Friday, NZTA spokesman Andrew Knackstedt said.

The slip itself is small, but the hill above it is too unstable for contractors to get in to clear it.
— David Unwin/Fairfax NZ.

There was loose material on the cliff face that was in danger of falling onto the road.

As this was a hazard to traffic, and to anyone working to clear the slip, Thursday's slip would not be cleared until the loose material on the cliff was removed.

It would require airbags to be inserted into the hill and inflated by contractors who had abseiled down the hill from above.

NZTA regional performance manager Mark Owen said the area where the slip occurred was one of seven places that had been identified in a 2012 geological report as being a medium-high risk of rockfall.

Safety measures, including installing netting, on those areas were planned to be installed within the next financial year, at a cost of $1.7 million, as part of ongoing maintenance of the route.

Safety was their number one priority, he said.

Thursday's slip came down just 30 minutes after Palmerston North city council candidate Bruno Petrenas launched a campaign to have the Manawatu Gorge recognised as a Road of National Significance.

The former national president of the NZ Automobile Association said NZTA should upgrade the vital link to ensure slips were kept to a minimum.

Petrenas said the economic infrastructure of Palmerston North and Manawatu was badly affected when the biggest slip in New Zealand history closed the Gorge in 2011 and that should never happen again.

“Even in one of our best summers on record, the Gorge has been reduced to one lane in parts due to slips, which shows how vulnerable it can be for through traffic,” he said.

“Therefore the NZ Transport Agency must reinforce what's been done already so we don't have a repeat of what happened three years ago.”

Petrenas said the Saddle Road route should be classified as a State Highway, and he challenged local MPs to support the call.

“If the Government can upgrade 10 bridges in Northland at the cost of millions of dollars, then it can show the same level of regional commitment and care for Manawatu and Tararua,” Petrenas said.

Palmerston North City Council road planning team leader David Lane said the council was comfortable with NZTA's recognition of the gorge as a nationally significant route.

At 8,000 vehicles a day, it did not have the congestion problems that would warrant the Roads of National Significance classification.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/67697394/HERE-WE-GO-AGAIN-Slip-shuts-gorge-for-fortnight