Pipiriki Rd summer upgrade on the cards

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 556, 4 October 1994, Page 1

Pipiriki Rd summer upgrade on the cards

A wider, straighter metal Pipiriki Road will be needed very soon to cope with an increase in logging truck traffic, the Ruapehu District Council agreed last Friday. The council is to apply for a Transit New Zealand (TNZ) subsidy to help pay for the work to improve and realign the road from Raetihi to the intersection of Huikumu Road, which is estimated to cost $1.7 million. The council also agreed to tender for professional services to prepare the contract documents for the upgrading work. Also, negotiations are to be continued with Winstone Pulp International Ltd (WPI) "with a view to obtaining funding from the Company for an appropriate portion of the local share costs of the work." While the Transit New Zealand subsidy could be in excess of 58 per cent, the council could not afford to fund the remainder on its own, said council chief executive Cliff Houston. He said whether WPI agreed to contribute or decided to construct its own internal access roads, was an economic decision

they had to make. He said WPI had paid rates over several years An internal access road would still use part of the Pipiriki Road, the council heard. Councillor Bob Peck said the council should do everything in its power to encourage the use of the Pipiriki Road, as it was used for farming and tourism as well as forestry. The council was told that Waimarino Forest would be in full sustainable production from 1997 onwards and that 27 trucks a day are expected to use the road. "However the impact will commence almost straight away and there will be an average of two trucks per day from later this year, increasing to nine trucks per day in 1995 and 12 trucks per day in 1996," said council engineer Bruce Dobson. He said TNZ had suggested an application could be made in the current financial year with the intention of carrying out the work this summer. If funds were not available now, the work could be done in 1995/ 96. This would "not unduly affect" the WPI cartage operation, he said.