The Grey District Council says only people with four-wheel-drives will be able to get to the start of the new Paparoa Track 'great walk', unless the road from Blackball is upgraded.
The $10 million, 55km track, under construction between Blackball and Punakaiki and incorporating the existing Croesus Track, is due to open in 2019.
However, the gravel road from Roa to the Croesus Track car park is currently four-wheel-drive only. It is about a 6km drive from Blackball.
Council chief executive Paul Pretorius said yesterday anyone in a campervan would be able to get through.
"We've said to the Government - upgrade this road, make it accessible," Mr Pretorius said.
So far 14km of the 55km Paparoa Track has been built. The Department of Conservation and its contractors are working on four fronts: Nelmac Ltd on the side track the Pike 29 Memorial, Westreef Services Ltd in the Pororari River valley, and a team of Doc staff on the Moonlight Tops and Inland Pack Track.
Meanwhile, the department said the two cyclones in February had caused minimal disruption, despite their severity, and had put progress no more than two to three weeks behind schedule.
Cyclone Fehi on February 1 caused fresh windthrow in the Pororari Valley, most of which has been cleaned up, and heavy rain on February 17 saw river levels up to 4m above normal flow, washing away a 6m-long timber beam bridge and shifting a 14m-long beam off its foundations.
Cyclone Gita on February 20 caused some further windthrow in the valley, smashing the 14m beam.
- By Laura Mills
