I remember when they had all those stupid little one lane bridges all over it in the early 80's.

MikeB4:

 

I think its time to find a permanent alternative and close it permanently. The Saddle and Pahiatua Tack are OK but not up to the volume or heavy trucks.

 

Yes, we drove over the Saddle today and there were several quite large potholes, but overall the surface was better than we had expected. The road is fairly narrow in places and we noticed that some large trucks came dangerously over the centre lane, perhaps because they were going too fast.

Because the road upgrades to the Saddle are continuing, I think it will be a reasonable replacement route for the Gorge before too long. But some drivers are driving too fast over this road and there's certain to be a serious accident if this continues.

Why not tunnel the river and just fill in the gorge?

frednz:

 

MikeB4:

 

I think its time to find a permanent alternative and close it permanently. The Saddle and Pahiatua Tack are OK but not up to the volume or heavy trucks.

 

 

 we noticed that some large trucks came dangerously over the centre lane, perhaps because they were going too fast.

 

It's got nothing to do with "going too fast", it's got to do with "my trailer not hitting the bank". You can be doing 5kph, but you still have to swing wide on corners so your first trailer axle stays on the road. 

Buy a matchbox truck and make it go around corners on a piece of paper and see how far you have to swing.

None of these "b" roads were designed for trucks.

Edit: Here's another thing... These truck drivers possibly do that road at least once a day... They know the road, and they don't want to die any more than you do.

MikeB4: Taking a Unimog over the Saddle was enough to nearly loosen my bowels.

I remember the first time I took a 45ft trailer over... was... interesting. :D

MikeB4: Taking a Unimog over the Saddle was enough to nearly loosen my bowels.

You wouldn't need the road to do that...!

frednz:

 

MikeB4:

 

I think its time to find a permanent alternative and close it permanently. The Saddle and Pahiatua Tack are OK but not up to the volume or heavy trucks.

 

 

Yes, we drove over the Saddle today and there were several quite large potholes, but overall the surface was better than we had expected. The road is fairly narrow in places and we noticed that some large trucks came dangerously over the centre lane, perhaps because they were going too fast.

 

Because the road upgrades to the Saddle are continuing, I think it will be a reasonable replacement route for the Gorge before too long. But some drivers are driving too fast over this road and there's certain to be a serious accident if this continues.

 

The problem is they aren't up to State highway quality. Heavy trucks are also  apparently causing problems, eg which is causing the pot holes. It needs government action. But there look to be a lot of other problems that also need solving in election year. But it is not as though this is an unknown problem, or there hasn't been years of warning, as they have already had costings for replacing it. 

If the rail loading gauge wasn't an issue we could put all those trucks on to rail flatcars as they do in the US and rail them from point A to B. 

old3eyes:

 

If the rail loading gauge wasn't an issue we could put all those trucks on to rail flatcars as they do in the US and rail them from point A to B. 

 

Assuming that there was a rail line between A and B of course...!

We could also do what they do (or used to do) in Scotland a lot - shift goods around the outside by sea to a port that is closer to the destination. Of course this is relatively slow, so not suitable for everything but a coaster service shifting containers around would reduce the traffic loading and would not get stuck in roadworks or indeed cause roadworks etc etc.

Maybe they do this now - I don't know.

The Gorge has been closed for three months now. Apparently Simon Bridges is expected to make an official announcement during a visit to The Manawatu on Wednesday (today).

My money is on them further upgrading the Saddle Road to be near state highway standards. A totally new route would take years to construct and a tunnel is just too expensive for the low volume of traffic.

blakamin:

 

I remember when they had all those stupid little one lane bridges all over it in the early 80's.

 

Geektastic:

 

FYI in case anyone wasn't aware. From the NZH

 

......

"Geotechnical assessments have confirmed that the entire hillside is moving, and the rate of that movement is accelerating. That's an indication that a slip as large or larger than the 2011 slip which closed the road for 14 months could come down at any time."

 

That would leave people downstream wondering where to get water from and people upstream waiting until the new lake forming flooded their land. 

Where a new road (or rail on the other bank) goes could be the least of the problems. 

DarthKermit:

 

The Gorge has been closed for three months now. Apparently Simon Bridges is expected to make an official announcement during a visit to The Manawatu on Wednesday (today).

 

My money is on them further upgrading the Saddle Road to be near state highway standards. A totally new route would take years to construct and a tunnel is just too expensive for the low volume of traffic.

 

Linuxluver:

 

DarthKermit:

 

The Gorge has been closed for three months now. Apparently Simon Bridges is expected to make an official announcement during a visit to The Manawatu on Wednesday (today).

 

My money is on them further upgrading the Saddle Road to be near state highway standards. A totally new route would take years to construct and a tunnel is just too expensive for the low volume of traffic.

 

Planning the future in the rear-vision mirror. :-) 

If you put a tunnel through there the volume of traffic would rise rapidly. 

 

We had a holiday in Cape Town South Africa a few years ago. Took a drive along Chapmans Peak. Its amazing what the Saffas have done to this road. Engineered their way out of it without a tunnel.

Perhaps we should be considering something similar. Chamans Peak drive is far more complex than most roads I have seen in NZ.

Here it is on google.

https://www.google.co.nz/maps/@-34.0871533,18.3560068,3a,75y,164.69h,95.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s-Kc3sCyg7rvHKYS9xElG5w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656