Almost three years since a slip closed a stretch of road off the highway through Porirua, the route is set to reopen next month.
By Justin Wong, Local Democracy Reporter
The Porirua City Council originally scheduled to reopen the intersection between Spinnaker Dr and State Highway 58 in late or the middle of May, but the latest update on its website said it’s been delayed to remove a redundant Chorus cable and extra engineering work because of "very soft ground" under the new water main.
"The new opening date is now expected first week of June, or potentially up to about June 15."
The stretch of road has been closed since July 2023 when a slip from private land partly blocked the public road. The water source that triggered the slip was never identified.
But repairing it proved to be complex and required the council to go out to tender to build a new retaining wall and stabilise the slip, as more of the slope came down on the road when the council tried to clear it up earlier. Work began late last year.
Expert advice warned officials not to touch the slip until a fix was designed because any wrong move could mean more of the hill would tumble down.
They also warned anything short of a permanent solution to change the slope’s base would have more of the hill collapsing, endangering road users and potentially nearby houses.
Mayor Anita Baker conceded that progress had been too slow in 2024.
"I think we were very slow with information," Baker said.
"I've seen other slips in the Hutt where they’ve been bigger than what we've got, and blocks have been brought in so the road could stay open."
– Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
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