Council pushes for shared costs of Pipiriki Road

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 533, 26 April 1994, Page 5

Council pushes for shared costs of Pipiriki Road

The Ruapehu District Council wants Transit New Zealand to share the cost of upgrading an increasingly used - and some say dangerous - tourist road. Despite a substantial increase in traffic along Pipiriki Road, linking Pipiriki on the Whanganui River to Raetihi, two-thirds of the road remains unsealed. The 1 2km metal section from Pipiriki to near Raetihi is narrow, windy and steep, climbing over 350 metres. Kayak and jet boat tours use it as a pick-up point during the summer season making it a major tourist route. Ruapehu District Mayor Garrick Workman said he

believes 90 per cent of tours beginning at Taumarunui travel the road to come out of the National Park. Over 6000 canoeists began their journeys at Taumarunui this year, according to information centre figures. Trampers also use the Pipiriki Road to get back to Raetihi. The appeal of two National Parks - Tongariro and Whanganui - attracts many tourists, Mr Workman said. In his Ohakune motel business Mr Workman said he has noticed a dramatic increase in tourist numbers since Whanganui was named a National Park. "Logging operations due to begin soon will add further stress to the road and may pose a danger to tourists." "We need to minimise the risk to travellers," he said. Taumarunui-based tour operator Barry Crocker, the manager of Pioneer Jet Boat Tours, has organised jet boating and kayaking parties through the area and has used the road for 19 years. He claims river usage in the last five years has trebled. He describes "lots of frights from people not knowing how to drive on a road like that." Campervan drivers often speed on the steep grades and pose a real danger. Mr Crocker estimated that maintenance is costing him up to 50 per cent more than if the road were sealed. "Flying stones strip paint off trailers and the road is often rutted making travel uncomfortable." Mr W orkman said it was an expensi ve piece of road for the Ruapehu District Council to maintain but it cannot afford to pay for upgrading. The Council want Pipiriki Road to become a special purpose road, similar to the Bruce and Ohakune Mountain Roads, whereby TNZ pays for road maintenance and 75 per cent of upgrading costs.