Northland leaders say Aucklanders and other tourists should still visit, despite the main route between Auckland and Whangārei remaining closed.

State Highway 1 at Brynderwyn Hill – between Kaiwaka and Waipū – is closed by three slips caused by Cyclone Gabrielle, plus ongoing slips from extreme weather on January 27.

The transport agency Waka Kotahi estimated it would take four more weeks before the highway was open to all vehicles, but said it hoped to have limited access open before then.

Meanwhile, Whangārei mayor Vince Cocurullo said a detour route through Mangawhai and Waipū Cove was getting damaged by all the extra traffic.

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Truck and trailer units have been banned from the route by the Northland Civil Defence group controller and police, with heavy freight required to detour 136 km through Dargaville.

SH1 also remains closed at Mangamuka Gorge, south of Kaitāia, due to slips caused by a storm in August 2022. A reopening date will be announced by the end of March.

On February 17, Northland police advised Northlanders and Aucklanders to avoid travel into and across Te Tai Tokerau, to allow the recovery efforts to work unimpeded.

But Cocurullo thought a repeat of this message would be unnecessary, and he encouraged tourists to come to Northland when they could.

“When you do come up, leave a little bit of extra time. Come up, enjoy the place and enjoy the atmosphere.”

The owner of six Northland restaurants, Lloyd Rooney​, agreed Aucklanders and other visitors should be encouraged.

“I understand a short-term impact on people’s lives but when it’s something that could last three to six months, it’s unfair to say to people, ‘don’t come to somewhere that you want to go camping or you have a holiday home’.”

The light traffic detour through Waipū Cove now runs past one of Rooney’s restaurants, The Cove.

But while there is a lot more traffic going past, it had not resulted in an increase in business, he said.

Rooney said he was surprised to see the roading problems had not deterred international tourists from visiting Northland.

While working at another of his restaurants, The Quay in Whangārei’s Town Basin, he noticed about a third of guests were international tourists, including from the US, UK, Germany and France.

“They’re coming up in their droves. I was slightly surprised with the roads being closed.”

Rooney said one of his biggest issues now was finding enough staff.

Tim Robinson​, president of the Northland Chamber of Commerce, echoed the call encouraging visitors to come north, although he cautioned people should allow extra travelling time.

“Enjoy the drive, because you’re going to be doing quite a bit of it time-wise and don’t be stressed by alternative routes,” he said.

“The great news is that when you do get her, businesses will be welcoming you with open arms.”

Robinson said some businesses had their income slashed by 30 to 50% because of the ongoing bad weather over summer and constant road closures.

Some were reporting their worst summer in a decade.

Robinson said this showed the Government needed to better invest in Northland’s road, including delivering a much-promised four-lane highway between Auckland and Northland.

“I’ve just driven the Waikato Expressway – it’s 110 kph and super easy to use; that’s what we need.”

A bypass of the Brynderwyn Hills has been considered as part of a four-lane upgrade to the highway south of Whangārei, first announced by the National-led Government in 2017.

The four-laning was scrapped by the Labour-led Government in 2018, although improvements to the highway were promised.

The project was put on the table again as part of Labour’s $12 billion infrastructure package in 2020, then scrapped in favour of a rail connection in 2021.

Northland Regional Transport Committee chairperson Joe Carr said

a commitment from Prime Minister Chris Hipkins to build more resilience into the roading network was encouraging.

But while the roads were under stress, Carr did not want to see any restrictions.

“I think if you start prohibiting people the unintended consequences are quite serious.”

Waka Kotahi asked motorists to avoid sightseeing trips to see the damage, as this could hamper crews and create unnecessary traffic.

“We are urging motorists to respect our crews on the ground, drive to the conditions and follow all signage,” said Jacqui Hori-Hoult, regional manager maintenance and operations.