Although the Waikato Times has reported that local businesses are shutting down due to the closure of SH23, Raglan and Waikato have been excluded from Government $25 million in recovery support for businesses. While the recovery package announced on Tuesday 28th said that all areas subject to a local state of emergency were eligible, Waikato District is missing from the list.
The Waikato Times article covered how a café owner in Raglan’s main street had shut down due to a lack of customers. The Raglan Business Chamber reported that visitor and customer numbers were down. Especially affected were day visitors from Hamilton and the central Waikato. Until the road reopens businesses are cutting costs and using cash reserves or overdrafts to keep going.
Although Waka Kotahi had originally said that SH23 would be reopened by the start of March it is now giving 4th of March as the date the highway will reopen. The road has been closed since 31st January.
As of 1st March, Waka Kotahi is saying,
Road to Raglan on track to re-open Saturday 4th March
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency advises that the main route to Raglan should reopen to the public on Saturday, in spite of heavy rain affecting road surfacing work earlier this week.
The final pavement work is underway, meaning people will soon be travelling on a two-lane temporary diversion road on private property, which skirts the serious slip that closed State Highway 23.
Waka Kotahi