Kawakawa Bay road to reopen on Friday

The road into Kawakawa Bay that has been blocked by a major landslip will reopen at midday on Friday.

Manukau City Council has been using a helicopter with monsoon bucket to bring down unstable earth from above the road to make it safe to reopen. The road is now being cleaned up and the surface repaired so it can open on Friday.

The reopened road will initially only be single lane and controlled by traffic lights. However work is continuing to permanently remove the risk from the landslip and fully reopen the road along its current route.

Manukau City Council Organisational Performance Director Robyn McCulloch says the road opening will be a welcome relief for the communities and businesses of Kawakawa Bay, Orere Point and Clevedon.

“It has been a stressful time for residents and businesses in the area. The council wants to thank them for their cooperation and patience while the road has been closed.

“It took some time for it to be safe to begin work on removing the danger from the slip so the road could reopen. However since we got the all-clear 11 days ago the council and contractors have worked hard to get it open.

“The road will open just in time for the weekend so we want to encourage people to head out to the area. The scenery along the coast is beautiful and popular for fishing and boating.

“Work is now continuing on a long term solution to permanently remove the risk from the landslip so the road can open in both directions. This should be completed over summer.

“We’re also working to get residents below the landslip back into their homes as soon as it is safe,” Ms McCulloch says.

The four wheel drive shuttle service and walking track behind the landslip area will close after the last services on Friday evening. From Saturday morning this will again be private property so no-one should use them.