State highways in Hawke’s Bay were significantly damaged during Cyclone Gabrielle. Links in and out of the region have now been restored, and our crews continue to repair the highway network.
Cyclone Gabrielle struck Hawke’s Bay with devastating force in mid-February 2023, leaving damaged bridges and culverts, buried roads, significant dropouts and isolated communities in its wake.
Several sections of state highway in the region were initially closed, including SH2 Napier to Gisborne, SH2 Napier to Hastings, SH5 Napier to Taupō, SH2 Napier to Wairoa, SH2 Wairoa to Gisborne, the Hawke’s Bay Expressway, sections of SH51 and SH50, and SH38 Wairoa to Lake Waikaremoana.
In late February there was a period of further heavy rain, which caused more damage to roads.
While some links were able to be opened fairly quickly for essential travel under conditions such as temporary speed limits, others took longer. State Highway 2 between Wairoa and Bay View sustained a lot of damage in the cyclone; the Waikare Bridge was lost at Putorino and there was significant damage at the Devil’s Elbow. State Highway 5 between Napier and Taupō was also significantly impacted, with a bridge damaged between Bay View and Glengarry, and a large underslip south of Te Pōhue.
All state highways in the region have now been reopened.
