Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Taranaki mayors and the transport sector are calling for the government to fund a $25 million transformation of a back country road to solve the region's costly road closure problem | Subscribe: youtube.com/RNZVideo?subscribe
The Awakino Gorge on State Highway 3 has been closed nine separate times over the past 12 months, sometimes for multiple days at a time.
An Infometrics report commissioned by Venture Taranaki puts the direct cost to businesses and individuals forced to take alternative routes because State Highway 3 is closed at up to a million dollars a day.
Frustration over the situation has locals taking a closer look at a detour along what is currently a single-lane metal road. They want the government to stump up the money to overhaul Taumatamaire Road so it could be used whenever the fragile gorge is closed.
Video: Robin Martin
Read more: rnz.co.nz/news/regions/1021751/back-country-road-touted-as-25m-solution-for-awakino-gorge-closures
Taranaki mayors and the transport sector are calling for the government to fund a $25 million transformation of a back country road to solve the region's costly road closure problem | Subscribe: youtube.com/RNZVideo?subscribe
The Awakino Gorge on State Highway 3 has been closed nine separate times over the past 12 months, sometimes for multiple days at a time.
An Infometrics report commissioned by Venture Taranaki puts the direct cost to businesses and individuals forced to take alternative routes because State Highway 3 is closed at up to a million dollars a day.
Frustration over the situation has locals taking a closer look at a detour along what is currently a single-lane metal road. They want the government to stump up the money to overhaul Taumatamaire Road so it could be used whenever the fragile gorge is closed.
Video: Robin Martin
Read more: rnz.co.nz/news/regions/1021751/back-country-road-touted-as-25m-solution-for-awakino-gorge-closures
