Waioeka Gorge Closures

What impact has a closure had on you?

Waka Kotahi-NZ Transport Agency is currently creating a business case to identify solutions for improving the resilience and safety of the SH2 route through the Waioeka Gorge (Gisborne – Ōpōtiki). To help develop the business case, we’re looking for stories from everyday people about their experiences with Waioeka Gorge closures. What impact did it have on your life, your whānau, or your business?

Here’s an example we’ve been told previously:

“Waioeka Gorge closed due to slip during school holidays. As single parents we had to drive the SH35 coast road adding hours to the journey. Had to go get kids, bring them back to Gissy, then take them back & drive home - 4 times in 2 weeks was a nightmare.”

You may have examples of events, appointments or trips that you’ve missed, or extra time and costs you’ve had to incur to use an alternative route or method to get where you’re going.

This feedback will be anonymously included in our business case to support our requests for safety and resilience improvements.

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* 1. If you remember, what was the year and month of the closure you’d like to give feedback about?

March 2012 (a series of large slips with a 27-day closure)

July 2017 (a large rockfall closing the road for 7 days)

June 2018 (a large slip closing the road for 6 days with no night access for a further 24 days)

Other (e.g. car crash, tree fall) – please describe

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* 2. What was your intended destination and journey purpose?

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* 3. What did you do instead, because of the Waioeka Gorge closure, and how did this impact you?

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* 4. Did this experience change the way you think about or use SH2 through the Waioeka Gorge? Please describe:

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* 5. On a scale of 1 to 5, how reliable do you consider SH2 through Waioeka Gorge to be? 1 is very unreliable, 5 is highly reliable.

1 - Very unreliable

5 - Highly reliable

Clear

i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

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* 6. What are your reasons for giving this score?

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* 7. Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experiences using SH2 through the Waioeka Gorge?

Thank you very much for taking the time to share your story, we appreciate your feedback. To stay updated about the project, you can sign up to the Connecting Tairāwhiti newsletter here: https://www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/connecting-tairawhiti/