Source: New Zealand Transport Agency
Another busy year of construction on Hawke’s Bay state highways means Cyclone Gabrielle recovery work in the region edges closer to completion, helping to keep people connected and freight moving.
The Transport Rebuild East Coast (TREC) alliance has now completed 88% of cyclone recovery work on the region’s state highway network. All sites are back to 2 lanes for Christmas for the first time since Cyclone Gabrielle. That includes Devil’s corner, just south of Devil’s Elbow.
TREC Project Manager Richard Bayley says the team has worked hand in hand with local contractors to complete repairs to more than 110 ‘faults’ (which includes slips under the road, slips over the road, culvert replacements and repairs).
The three remaining Hawke’s Bay state highway projects for 2026 are asphalting a 4.5km section of SH2 in January, repairs at the Tutaekuri (Waitangi) Bridge on SH51, and three underslip repairs on SH38, which will continue until June.
“We’ve stabilised slopes and underpinned highways to enhance road strength, improved drainage to help with stormwater runoff, which has enabled us to reinstate all damaged highways in the region to 2 lanes, in time for the peak holiday travel season,” says Mr Bayley.
“We’d like to thank all our communities for their continued support while we work through an extensive recovery programme. It’s been a long road to recovery for the network and we know it hasn’t always been easy, and at times the network has been busy with construction and traffic management. We truly appreciate everyone’s patience since the cyclone.
“We’d also like to thank iwi and hapū partners for their partnership, and local contractors who have delivered these projects alongside us. It’s been a real team effort.”
Progress by state highway
SH2 – one project remains
SH2 in Hawke’s Bay was badly damaged during Cyclone Gabrielle. In the winding 4.5km Devil’s Elbow section, the final 5 of 11 major projects were completed this year.
This includes at Devil’s Corner – the most complex of the Devil’s Elbow sites where a 40 metre long and 10 metre high slip had to be repaired. Initial works, started last November, involved drilling 633 nails through over 4 kilometres of drilling and excavating 500 truckloads of material. Recently crews have finished building a 12 metre high retaining wall to support the road with 24 layers of rip rap (rock) baskets, geogrids (reinforced plastic), and compacted aggregate to create a strong, stable structure that will protect the road. You can see the wall being completed in this video:
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Traffic has recently switched onto the new road alignment.
TREC has also recently completed a programme of culvert repairs and replacements at Devil’s Elbow to manage stormwater runoff. Keeping water away from the road is one of the most important ways to boost the resilience of the network.
Other SH2 sites completed this year include underslip repairs at Mohaka Rail Viaduct, White Pine Bush and Lake Tutira; as well as slip stabilisation at Sandy Creek and drainage upgrades at Morere. Recently road reseals were completed at White Pine Bush and Waikoau Hill, and road rebuilds at Sandy Creek, Tangoio Falls and Te Ngarue.
NZTA’s project on SH2 at Mohaka Viaduct remains single-lane under traffic light management.
The team will return to Devil’s Elbow in January (during night closures) to asphalt a 4.5km section resulting in a smoother and safer drive. This is the only remaining recovery project on SH2 in Hawke’s Bay.
SH5 – recovery work complete
In December the final SH5 project at the Tarawera culverts was finished. Here, two culverts had been badly damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle. The culvert inlets were repaired alongside work to fix erosion caused by overflow when the culverts were blocked by debris.
Other SH5 work completed this year included repairs at three underslips at Māori Gully, and road shoulder repairs near Eskdale Substation.
Recently TREC completed a programme of road reseals at various locations and a road rebuild at Captain’s Culvert.
SH50 – recovery work complete
TREC’s work on SH50 was completed earlier this year with underslip repairs at Glencoe Gorge.
This slip was around 15 metres high and 10 metres wide and had undermined the guardrail, posing a risk to the road above. An EcoReef wall, made from hexagonal blocks filled with material, was constructed to protect against future erosion.
SH51 – repairs ongoing
Work at Tutaekuri (Waitangi) Bridge has progressed well in 2025. Work includes removing debris from both sides of the river and repairing the concrete piles in the river. In early 2026 work will continue to replace the damaged bracing beams (under the cycle path).
SH38 – three underslips remaining
On 1 December work started to repair three underslips on SH38 between Lake Waikaremoana and Tuai.
Repairs will help restore the road to its original width, improve long-term resilience and keep communities connected.
This work will continue until June 2026 and will be the final TREC projects delivered in Hawke’s Bay.
Traffic management over the holiday period
Work at TREC sites will stop over the Christmas and New Year period from Thursday 18 December to Monday 5 January.
All TREC Hawke’s Bay sites are back to two lanes.
We encourage everyone to plan their journeys and check the latest traffic updates at journeys.nzta.govt.nz to stay informed on road conditions.
