{"id":273080,"date":"2026-02-08T00:59:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T00:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/273080\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T00:59:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T00:59:07","slug":"sh2-waioweka-gorge-one-lane-to-reopen-monday-for-essential-travel-only","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/273080\/","title":{"rendered":"SH2 Waioweka Gorge: One lane to reopen Monday for \u2018essential travel only\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"kNVbbmPsnUpLRHJLT\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to overstate how big the task has been for the crews on the ground,\u201d Bishop said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"kNVbbmPsnUpLRHJLT\" style=\"display:none\">He said it\u2019s \u201cencouraging news\u201d for one lane to reopen, but there are still \u201cimportant things\u201d for locals to keep in mind.<\/p>\n<p class=\"kNVbbmPsnUpLRHJLT\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cWhile geotechnical investigations have confirmed that the road is safe, it\u2019s still an active worksite, people should only travel if they must and be prepared for the road to close at short notice if weather conditions or risk assessments change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"There have been multiple slips along State Highway 2 through the Waioweka Gorge. Photo \/ NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>There have been multiple slips along State Highway 2 through the Waioweka Gorge. Photo \/ NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi<\/p>\n<p class=\"kNVbbmPsnUpLRHJLT\" style=\"display:none\">Bishop said restoring access is important, but doing it safely is critical. <\/p>\n<p class=\"kNVbbmPsnUpLRHJLT\" style=\"display:none\">It\u2019s a \u201cvulnerable route\u201d which NZTA is actively monitoring for further slip movement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"kNVbbmPsnUpLRHJLT\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cCrews will remain working on the other side of the road, clearing the remaining debris, improving drainage and opening culverts to reduce the risk of further issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"kNVbbmPsnUpLRHJLT\" style=\"display:none\">Bishop said he expects this stretch of SH2 to remain a worksite for some time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"kNVbbmPsnUpLRHJLT\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cPeople should travel with extreme care and be mindful of workers on the road. Give them a friendly wave as you travel through.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"A major slip on the \u014cp\u014dtiki side of the Waioweka Gorge following heavy rain in January 2026. Photo \/ NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>A major slip on the \u014cp\u014dtiki side of the Waioweka Gorge following heavy rain in January 2026. Photo \/ NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi<\/p>\n<p class=\"kNVbbmPsnUpLRHJLT\" style=\"display:none\">Motorists planning to join the convoy are advised to allow plenty of extra time to get to their departure point and convoys will leave \u201cpromptly on schedule\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"kNVbbmPsnUpLRHJLT\" style=\"display:none\">Across the 37km stretch of the gorge, convoys will operate in a single direction, three times daily for each direction. Pilot vehicles will control the convoy speed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"kNVbbmPsnUpLRHJLT\" style=\"display:none\">The Gisborne start point at the Historic Tauranga Bridge departs promptly at the following times:<\/p>\n<p>7.00am, 11.00am and 5.00pm<\/p>\n<p class=\"kNVbbmPsnUpLRHJLT\" style=\"display:none\">The \u014cp\u014dtiki-bound start point is in Matawai at Te Wera Road intersection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"kNVbbmPsnUpLRHJLT\" style=\"display:none\">Departing promptly at the following times:<\/p>\n<p>9.00am, 1.00pm, and 7.00pm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to overstate how big the task has been for the crews on the ground,\u201d Bishop said.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273081,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,11519,22510,46227,8999,2082,121901,26755,20112,9878,2510,111,43,139,69,5270,2847,3109,34091,1230,2848,47621,89818,13672,210,61,701,274,142210,4518,1533],"class_list":["post-273080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-causing","tag-damage","tag-essential","tag-extensive","tag-for","tag-gorge","tag-highway","tag-lane","tag-monday","tag-multiple","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-one","tag-only","tag-public","tag-rainfall","tag-reopen","tag-severe","tag-sh2","tag-slips","tag-state","tag-through","tag-to","tag-tomorrow","tag-travel","tag-waioweka","tag-weeks","tag-will"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}