State Highway 25 is closed again between Tapu and Waiomu after more rocks and debris slipped overnight blocking both lanes. Photo: Supplied / NZTA
State Highway 2 north of Gisborne will remain closed until at least Friday 30 June as further movement at Mātāwai and Ormond has made it unsafe for road users and unsuitable for heavy vehicles.
Waka Kotahi regional maintenance and operations manager Jaclyn Hankin said there was 500mm movement in the road over the weekend.
"There's so much water in the hillside there that we can't just safely open that road, because it's continuing to move but we are working to get as much water out of that hillside as possible," Hankin told Morning Report.
State Highway 35 north of Gisborne was also closed overnight on Sunday as a precaution but expected to reopen at 8am on Monday.
Hankin said slips had occurred there but not to the same extent as SH2.
As of early Monday morning, about 90 local roads were either closed or restricted across the district.
Civil Defence said there was likely to be more land movement, and further slips and dropouts, because the ground was so saturated.
Damien Macpherson lives on a farm in Te Karaka and said there had been a lot of slumps and slips in the hill country.
He said the farms at Hangaroa and Tiniroto had slips like he had never seen before.
"I'm quite lucky compared to a lot of those guys up there. I feel so sorry for them.
"It's a real kick in the guts when that sort of thing happens. Just when you think you got your head above the water and boom, it comes again."
Macpherson said there had been challenge after challenge since Cyclone Gabrielle hit the area in February.
"This time the weather is a lot colder and you don't get the sunlight for as long. I think we're going to be wet for a lot longer this time after these floods.
"We're going to have a lot more damage and slips on the hills if this carries on because everything is just getting so heavy and wet.
"Every drop of rain we get there's more weight on those hills and it's just pulling it down into the gullies."
Hankin said the freight industry relied heavily on SH2 to connect Tai Rāwhiti to the upper North Island.
"We are working as quickly and safely as possible to get the road to a point where another escorted convoy is possible," Hankin said.
Mainfreight country manager Carl George said there would be hours added to the journey in and out of Gisborne, with trucks from the north having to go via the Napier-Taupō Road, which had also been damaged.
The company would prioritise getting essential supplies in and out, including food, he said.
That included several trucks a day to restock supermarkets and to take produce out of the region to market.
The roading problems felt "never ending" and the company would make sure its Gisborne team was okay, he said.
"We'll just keep doing what we do. We're pretty good at making sure we keep our network open," George said.
"We're dictated to by weather and roading but our guys will get around that."
Slips caused damage to the road at Otoko, northwest of Gisborne, on 25 June. Photo: Kate Green / RNZ
Road woes continue on Coromandel Peninsula
Meanwhile on the Coromandel Peninsula, Waka Kotahi was working to clear slips that blocked State Highway 25 in a weekend of havoc on the area's roads.
Five motorists were trapped at Ruamahunga and Waiomu on Saturday night.
The road had reopened under stop-go traffic management but Thames-Coromandel District Council confirmed on Monday morning there had been another slip on SH25, at Ruamahunga, blocking it in both directions.
UPDATE 6:00AM, MON 26 JUN#SH25 has closed again this morning, between Waiomu & Tapu, following further slip activity overnight. Delay your journey: https://t.co/sWuqGBmp1y ^TP https://t.co/j9YRL3vzOz
— Waka Kotahi NZTA Waikato/BoP (@WakaKotahiWaiBP) June 25, 2023
Thames Coromandel mayor Len Salt told Morning Report the weekend slips were cleared, but people needed to remain cautious and up to date with the latest news as slips could happen quickly and suddenly.
State Highway 25A remained closed with the road collapsed after the North Island's major storm in late January 2023.
SH25A was expected to stay closed until early next year, he said.
Salt said the slips were making it difficult for people to get to the shops, to work and to medical appointments.
Salt planned to meet with MP Carmel Sepuloni about cyclone recovery.
He said there was no doubt stabilisation work was needed and added that 50 points along SH25 had been identified as in urgent need of repair.
He said 115 sites on the local networks had also been labelled as needing work.
"We've got a massive programme of work, which has already started, to build some resilience back into these roads, because this is something that's been going on for a long time, decades, and the realisation is there now that we've got to invest in these roading networks to make them more able to cope with climate change and changing weather events in frequency and severity."
They were anticipating more rain in the area later on Monday and would be keeping a close eye on it, Salt said.
The people who were trapped at Ruamahunga and Waiomu on Saturday night were now okay but anyone who was concerned about their safety could call emergency services, he said.
Motorists are advised to delay journeys in the area if the weather is bad as the road conditions remained poor.
