Waka Kotahi suggests it may take up to a year to reopen State Highway 25A across the Coromandel Peninsula.
The highway, which was closed by a massive slip in late January, provides a key link from the east to the west of the peninsula.
"We are working as hard as we can to get this open, and we are well aware that everyone requires it open," Jo Wilton, Waka Kotahi's regional manager of infrastructure delivery, said.
"We understand the impact it's having on communities."
She made the comments during a media tour of the site. 1News had visited the slip in early February, when highway barriers were still hanging by a thread at the top of the slip. Since then, tracks have been cut for access, and bores are being drilled to find rock.
The whole project may still take several months.
"We're expecting the work to be done, everything going well, in nine to 12 months from now," Wilton said.
First, Waka Kotahi has to decide on one of three options it is investigating for the highway. One would be a retaining wall to allow the road to be reinstated, the second would be a bridge, and the third would be a new road at the back of the existing slip to join the highway together again.
"We're looking at having a decision made in May as to which option we are going to progress with," Wilton said.
One businessman told 1News the reopening of the highway can't come soon enough.
"Can't wait, can't wait," Shaun Thomsen said. "I'm sick of the drive."
He owns a marine services company which operates around the peninsula.
"I'm travelling to Whangamatā four days a week and it's probably an extra hour-and-a-half a day there and back, but then if I go further to Pauanui or north to Whitianga, it's a minimum of two hours."
Thomsen said other businesses were also affected.
"There's a lot of people who travel from the eastern seaboard to work on this side," he said, "and quite a lot have had to leave their jobs because of the extra travel costs, extra time."
He said most of those jobs were in retail.
Communities in Coromandel were used to slips cutting off roads, but the closure to SH25A was especially significant.
"I think this time you can tell the whole peninsula is feeling it," Thomsen said.
Waka Kotahi said the road network across the region remains fragile, with around 200 slips in January and February.
Locals hope the network remains intact during the Easter holiday break to allow much-needed visitors to boost the economy.
SHARE ME