A two month closure of the Desert Road through the central North Island is a mixed bag for Waipā.
In Te Awamutu and the King Country retailers and tourism operators are hoping for a busier than normal summer as the closure pushes more traffic into the King Country and Waipā.
But traffic numbers coming off the Waikato Expressway to visit Cambridge could be reduced.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency closed State Highway 1 between Tūrangi and Waiouru on Monday for road works and to replace the wooden deck of the almost 60-year-old Mangatoetoenui Bridge about 20km south of the State Highway 46 turn off.
Susan O’Regan
This means between 3000 and nearly 6000 drivers will take alternative routes from north to south and back again over the next two months.
Waipā mayor Susan O’Regan did not expect to see a significant impact in the district but Waitomo mayor John Robertson expected established stops like Piopio to be busier as a result of the road closure.
Murray Hunt furnishers manager Bev Cooper thought the road closure could bring more people through Ōtorohanga and into the branch there.
“It will be interesting to see,” she said. “Mostly we get people stopping off who are driving Auckland to Wellington.”
Brodie Hewlett, left, with mother Bev Cooper in the Murray Hunt Furnishers Beds R Us Te Awamutu store.
She didn’t expect any extra traffic through the Te Awamutu branches which generally attracted Cambridge and Hamilton shoppers.
Meanwhile, work has started on State Highway 3 from between Ryburn Road to Forkert Road in Ōhaupō.
The work is expected to take seven weeks, and one lane will remain open for southbound traffic at all times while a detour will add about eight minutes to the journey for light vehicles.
Maungatoetoenui Bridge, Desert Rd
