Closing 1.2km of Beach Rd between Oamaru and Kakanui would be a cheaper option than continuously repairing erosion from the sea, a report prepared for the Waitaki District Council's assets committee says.
The report will be debated at the committee's meeting on Wednesday, when councillors will consider setting up a special subcommittee to review options, not just for that section, but for the whole coastal road from Oamaru to where it rejoins State Highway 1 at the Mill House at Waianakarua.
The 1.2km section of Beach Rd between Gardiners and Thousand Acre Rds has been temporarily closed by the council, which considers it dangerous because of cliff face erosion.
The council's roading assets manager, Gary Woock, said the council needed to consider the long-term implications of erosion on the road, including protection or closing it.
The council had already realigned 720m of the road north of Awamoa Creek because of erosion and in the four years since, the old road had disappeared into the sea.
Late last year, the council carried out about 275m of protection work alongside the road just south of Gardiners Rd. This was already being damaged by heavy seas, which had possibly undermined some of the road.
Emergency work was also needed at the intersection of Beach and Thousand Acre Rds. The cost of continued coastal erosion protection and road realignment would be expensive.
‘‘The least expensive option is to abandon and permanently close part of Beach Rd [between Gardiners and Thousand Acre Rds] with a detour up Gardiners Rd,'' he said.
Mr Woock estimated coastal erosion protection and road realignment between Gardiners and Thousand Acre Rds could cost the council about $610,000, with the rest of the projected $1.2 million total cost coming from Transit NZ.
Closing that section of road and upgrading Gardiners Rd would cost the council about $82,000 of a $250,000 project.
OCEL Consultants, which had looked at the problem, believed erosion protection for the 1.2km of the closed portion of Beach Rd was too great and may not stand up long-term.
But Mr Woock also predicted that, eventually, the council might have to close and abandon Beach Rd from the North Otago golf course boundary to Thousand Acre Rd.
