Almost 12 months after a monster storm washed out parts of the main road through the Far North, the Mangamuka Gorge is re-opening.
It's the stretch of State Highway 1 south of Kaitaia that's been affected and the first passenger vehicles should be driving through the gorge on Wednesday evening.
It was just over a year ago when a one-in-500-year deluge caused the forest to slide down the hill and onto the Mangamuka Gorge road.
This huge slip was just one of eight that completely covered or cut under SH1.
Andrea Panther, the chair of the Kaitaia Business Association, said they're "super excited" and locals "can't wait to get back to normal".
Panther said the town has had it tough while the road has been closed.
"For instance, the petrol station has reported a huge drop in monthly income because the traffic was heading the other way."
Dozens of piles have been added to stabilize the hillside as well as five retaining walls including this one, which is 135 metres long.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency regional manager Jacqui Hori-Hoult said it's a great piece of work.
The road opened in both directions at 6pm on Wednesday but there is still one section that's restricted.
"We still have the major site that's going to be down to one lane, and we will be having traffic signals on those," Hori-Hoult said.
But one lane or two, residents are welcoming the connection.
Panther said for the last 11 months people have been forced to drive along the east coast, adding 20 minutes to their journey.
"It's made us feel very vulnerable, that we can be easily cut off from the rest of the country. Because it only needed to take a flood in Kaeo and we'd easily be cut off so it is a bit scary."
Although the city-slickers complain about traffic, on Wednesday night Kaitaia is welcoming it.
