The long and winding road

It doesn’t take much to bring the roading network in the lower Waikato to a crawl – and here’s the evidence.

Maintenance work launched at the start of the month at Karāpiro between Cambridge and Tirau have added considerably to journey times.

Waka Kotahi arranged for tree felling and maintenance work and the road was closed to through traffic from Karāpiro Rd to SH29 at Piarere.

Only oversize vehicles were permitted through for two hours each day. Motorists detoured through Karāpiro Road, Taotaoroa Road and SH29.

See Brian Holden website


Photographer Brian Holden, whose drone picture contributions will be familiar to readers of The News, took this shot looking along Taotaoroa Rd north-east towards SH29 as vehicles crawled their way to Matamata and the Bay of Plenty on Friday August 12.

The three big trucks in the mid foreground on Taotaoroa Road looking west towards Karapiro service station.

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