The blowhole dropout on the road to Mahia is set to be back to two lanes before Christmas.

The work is part of an $8 million coastal resilience package that will see road improvements and future-proofing works along the Nuhaka to Opoutama coastal stretch and Mahia East Coast Road.

The blowhole dropout repair will see the road widened into the rail corridor and returned to two lanes, with the railway lines already removed in preparation for the work.

Due to the instability and geotechnical makeup of the blowhole area, there is no solution available to reinstate the actual dropout, and geotechnical testing has ruled out cutting into the hillside to realign the road due to the high risk of setting off a major landslide.

Wairoa District Council Chief Executive Kitea Tipuna said the repair work is not expected to be the final permanent solution, but it will provide a remedy in the short to medium term.

“All around New Zealand different areas are experiencing coastal erosion which impacts on roading networks. It has taken a long time to be able to get a solution for the blowhole and we appreciate people’s patience.

“The $8 million package is intended to be funded through NZTA Emergency Works, Crown Resilience Programme, and Better-Off funding, meaning this work will not cost ratepayers. Although some of the funding has not been formally secured, funders have approved it in principle, and the Council looks forward to working with them in order to progress planning and construction works.”

Contractors Fulton Hogan will be carrying out work at the blowhole site, which is scheduled to start this week and be completed before Christmas. The blowhole area will be under stop-and-go control while work is carried out, and motorists are thanked in anticipation of their patience.

The coastal resilience project will be carried out over the next three years, with the remaining work still to go out to tender.

Caption: The blowhole dropout on the road to Mahia is set to be back to two lanes before Christmas.

19 November 2024

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