Manawatu Gorge Replacement

[Brent George]

Now that the Manawatu Gorge replacement route has been identified, the consultation process begins....
Stuff - Motoring News: 13-April-2020

All parties will be aware that prolonged consultation and an inability to reach agreement will only delay the completion of this vital link between the Manawatu and Hawkes Bay regions.  In the meantime, the current "band-aid" routes are being hammered.

[Brent George]

Manawatū Gorge replacement highway hearing begins with airing of benefits of new road:
Stuff - Motoring: 25-Aug-2020

[Brent George]

The Future Use of old Manawatū Gorge Road
Stuff - Motoring: 22-Aug-2021

Transport officials are looking into what can be done with the old road through the Manawatū Gorge, which although officially closed is a frequently used walking and cycling track.

State Highway 3 through the gorge closed when a slip fell in April 2017 and a new east-west highway, to open in late 2024, is forging its way over the lower slopes of the Ruahine Range. The old road was regularly shut for slips, including for long periods in 2011-12 and 1995.

Warning signs at either end of the old road tell people to stay out, but goat tracks through areas of foliage show it's a popular walking and cycling spot, and when Stuff visited on Friday access holes were formed in the wire mesh fence at the Ashhurst end.