An entire Northland town is knuckling down for a spring clean, ahead of the reopening of its main highway, which has been closed for more than two years.
Kaitāia has been cut off from the highway south since August 2022, when a series of massive slips destroyed State Highway 1 through Mangamuka Gorge.
A massive, $100-million-plus project by the NZ Transport Agency to rebuild the 13km section of road is finally due to be completed in December.
Kaitāia Business Association chairman Josh Kirby described the reopening, scheduled for December 20, as “a nice Christmas present”.
“Given it’s been closed for quite a while — over two-and-a-half years, we felt it was worthwhile doing a little bit of mahi around town, having a little bit of a clean up, putting our best foot forward,” he said.
“It’s an opportunity for our community to come together and take a bit of pride in our town.”
Mangamuka Gorge to reopen by Christmas after two-year closure
The 13km road was all but obliterated by a series of 15 slips in a major storm in August 2022. (Source: 1News)
Work started on Monday, with businesses in the town centre encouraged to clean windows and building frontages, or to pick up rubbish.
From 10am on Friday, volunteers planned to descend on the town square to collect up rubbish sacks, split into groups and fan out across town looking for litter.
During the week contractors had been re-barking and refreshing the gardens, while through Friday, others would be waterblasting footpaths and alleys, and tidying up benches and rubbish bins.
Kirby said local businesses were hugely supportive.
A local waste firm donated gloves, rubbish sacks and a skip; another business would be sorting through the waste and picking out anything that could be recycled.
Other companies had offered free labour, and equipment such as waterblasters and scissor-lifts.
“So she’s all go,” Kirby said.
The impact of the highway closure had been significant, he said.
“Every small town needs a road in, right? We haven’t had that access for a long time, but at the same time we are a very resilient, supportive community.
“So it has been very difficult, but the community has rallied.”
Kirby said businesses were looking forward to seeing more visitors once Kaitāia was back on the main route north.
“We’re hoping that with a little bit of a spruce-up down the main street and surrounding areas, that we’re well positioned to welcome our visitors to town, and hopefully they’ll spend a few dollars here before they head out to the beach.
“It’s been a long time coming.”
Some locals questioned how long the highway would last, given that the previous repairs lasted just a year before the road was again wiped out by heavy rain.
However, Kirby said he was optimistic the road would hold, given the amount of work that had gone into it this time.
Visitors who had not been to Kaitaia for a few years would be in for a few pleasant surprises, he added.
One was the new Te Hiku Sports Hub, including an indoor pool complex, on the right just as people arrived in town from the south; the other was the new town square with a large steel and tōtara waka sculpture as a centre piece, on what used to be a derelict supermarket site.
“That’s going to be a beautiful spot to hang out through summer, that’s for sure,” he said.
