Karapiro Dam Road
It was good while it lasted and well appreciated.
Cars cross the Karāpiro Dam road on Sunday, the last day it was open for a while. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
That’s the view on the re-opening of the Karāpiro Dam road between December 21 and Sunday night when it closed again for several months.
But two teenage boys from Cambridge High School, who live on either side of the dam, are now wondering how they will catch up with each having nipped across to go fishing and swimming together during the break.
The 16km trip via SH1 and through Cambridge and Leamington makes it a long way around for them now, they told The News.
Cambridge News 9 January 2025
The closure has been well signalled to lake users including competitors in next week’s national Waka Ama championships.
The dam road has been closed on and off since 2019 – intermittently opening over the summer periods when workers are on a break and at other times – for Mercury’s $90 million Karāpiro Hydro Power Station upgrade on Waikato River.
Three new power generation units housing hydro turbines which make electricity from the river’s force will provide an additional five megawatts, enough for 19,000 homes.
The third one should be in place later this year and the road – owned by Mercury – will reopen then.
Cars cross the Karāpiro Dam road on Sunday, the last day it was open for a while.
