Matawai township is at the junction of three roads, State Highway 2 to Gisborne and Opotiki, and a local road to Motu. The Motu Road was originally called Neill Road, and extended from Motu to the Otoko via Matawai and Rakauroa. As settlement of the district progressed the Motu Valley Road was constructed up the Motu river towards Homebrooke, Koranga and Te Wera (the now Te Wera Road). The first 5 miles (8 km) of this road was to become a State Highway in 1932 once the road through the Waioeka Gorge to Opotiki was opened.

A table at the end of this article lists curent and previous road names.

William Brook (1876-1952) was appointed Road Overseer based at Motu by the Public Works Department in 1906. Dick Twisleton's publication The Motu and Beyond - The Way it Was describes the work of William Brook based on his diaries. William was a trained surveyor, and was responsible for roads in the area from Te Karaka to Opotiki, including Motu, Motuhora, Matawai, Te Wera, Moanui, Rakauroa, Whakarau, Waioeka, and Toatoa. In 1906, when William Brook was appointed, roads in the Matawai district were primitive, single file riding tracks that became almost unusable in winter due to mud. His job involved surveying, letting contracts, ordering all materials for fences, bridges and culverts and organising transport of the materials to the work sites. He also was required to measure completed works, pay contractors and provide written reports on the work. The result of his work in the Matawai district included construction of the Motu Valley Road, the Matawai to Wairata Road, and Neill Road from Motu to Otoko; all widened to roads suitable for horse and motor vehicles. William had moved to Gisborne by 1938 according to Electoral Rolls.

William Brook
Source: The Motu and Beyond - The Way it Was, Dick Twisleton.

In 1897 when the George Redpath's family moved to Rakauroa they travelled in a two horse tandem dray from Gisborne to Whakarau (using the road from Gisborne to Motu and Opotiki), and the remaining 8 miles (13 km) to their farm on Oliver Road by horseback or on foot. As more people settled around Rakauroa a track was started north towards Matawai which would later become part of Neill Road. In 1903 when the Henry Korte and his brothers traveled from Gisborne to Matawai their journey followed the same route as the Redpaths in 1897, but they continued from Rakauroa to Matawai along Neill Road and then followed a track that became the Motu Valley Road for about 3 miles up the Motu River to their section.

As the railway advanced from Gisborne towards Motu, settlers agitated for a dray road to connect with the railhead. This was to enable horse-drawn vehicles, and later lorries, to transport wool and timber to the railhead, for transport to Gisborne. At the time the railway provided faster, cheaper and safer transport than by road for both passengers and freight. The state of district roads in in 1908 is provided as part of a newpaper report (Visit to Motu).

Opotiki Road

A separate web page provides information about the history of the Waioeka Gorge district and the Waioeka Gorge road.

As mentioned above, the first section of State Highway 2 from Matawai to Opotiki was a track that became the Motu Valley Road. By 1910 this section of the track had been widened to a dray road and two bridges built over tributaries of the Motu River. A stock track, surveyed by William Brook, was completed from the Motu Valley Road to Wairata in August 1912. This track connected with the track that had been built from Opotiki for settler access to their sections in the Waioeka Valley. The track allowed a shorter route for livestock to be driven between Gisborne and the Bay of Plenty, plus allowed stores to be drawn from Matawai by settlers in the upper Waioeka. A road suitable for motorised vehicles through the Waioeka Gorge to Matawai was completed in 1931 and a 2 lane highway was completed and opened in 1962.

Matawai-Motu Road

The Matawai-Motu road, part of Neill Road, was initially a track through the bush, a 2½ hour ride on horseback, linking Matawai to the Whakarau Road 2 miles south of Motu. The Whakarau Road was the main highway from Gisborne to Opotiki until the Waioeka Gorge road was completed. Motu residents agitated for several years to have the track upgraded to allow passage of wheeled vehicles once the route of the railway was known. The Motu and Beyond - The Way it Was mentions construction of the Matawai-Motu Road. One of William Brook's first jobs was construction of Neill Road from the Whakarau Road to Matawai. Most of the road was across swampy ground next to the Motu River and through heavy bush. It took four years work to make the road suitable for wheeled vehicles, with the road opening in February 1911 as reported in the newspaper report below (Opening of Neill Road).

The road was made suitable for traffic in wet weather with the addition of gravel from the Motu river. It was used as a service road for construction of the Matawai-Motuhora section of the railway line. After the railway was removed in 1959, the Matawai-Motu Road was re-aligned for much of its distance, moving onto the previous railway route, and it was tar-sealed.

Matawai-Gisborne Road

As noted above, the Neill Road from Matawai to Otoko started as a single-lane track suitable for a horse and livestock, then was widened to a dray road by February 1911 (see newspaper report Opening of Neill Road), but with fords over the main streams and rivers. The dray road from Gisborne to Motu through Whakarau connected with Neill Road by Oliver Road (a track) at Rakauroa. In 1907 Rakauroa settlers raised a loan for a road through the Waihuka Valley, through Mr Hutchison's farm (Waihuka Station), to connect Waikohu with Otoko. This 14 km section was completed for wheeled vehicles in 1908, again with fords (see report below - Road to Rakauroa), completing the route between Matawai and Gisborne which was to become State Highway 2.

Bridges. The road between Gisborne and Matawai has several river crossings that became impassable during floods before bridges were constructed. Although some fords had been replaced by bridges, it was not until 1932 that all the river crossings had been bridged. A ford over the Waipaoa River at Kaiteratahi was replaced by a single lane timber bridge in 1891, linking Ormond and Te Karaka. The next major crossing from Gisborne was over the Waikohu River at what was called Willow Crossing, and subsequently Waikohu, with a combined rail/road bridge opened at Waikohu in 1909 (see report below - Railway Extension - Opening of Waikohu Station). About a km closer to Matawai, after the turnoff to Whakarau and Motu, was another crossing of the Waikohu River. A single lane swing bridge, called the Waihuka Bridge, had been built at this crossing by Mr Hutchison to allow access to his farm and it was incorporated into the Waihuka Valley road opened in 1908. In 1929 a bridge over the Waihuka River south of Rakauroa was constructed. It was not until 1931 that the Waikohu Council agreed with the government to build four other bridges over the Waihuka River: at Mahaki, Gisborne side of Otoko Hill; and three on the Otoko side of Otoko Hill (over Coal or Gold Creek, and two over the Waihuka River before Otoko). A concrete bridge over the Waikohu River at Rakauroa was completed in 1930, replacing a previous wooden bridge. The Waihuka swing bridge and Kaiteratahi Bridge were replaced with more substantial single lane concrete bridges in the 1930's.

Following closure of the railway in 1959 and its removal, the narrow winding metal Matawai-Gisborne road (now State Highway 2) was upgraded and tar sealed. The road was widened with two lanes, realigned and in several places the realignment used the former railway route, and two-lane bridges were constructed. The improved road to Gisborne, with reduced travel time from over two hours to one hour, resulted in Matawai residents buying more supplies in Gisborne rather than Matawai.

Newspaper Reports

5 December 1908, Page 5.

ROAD TO RAKAUROA.

Mr D. Malone has completed the contract for constructing 8½ miles (14 km) of road from Mr John Hutchinson's property, running through to Mr Bilham's place, and coming out at the old Ngatapa road. The new piece of road will be of great value to settlers and travellers. It is a splendid road, 16ft (5 m) wide, and with easy grades. It will take the Rakauroa traffic and will probably become the main road to Motu owing to the easy grade and shorter distance. It connects with the old Ngatapa road at the Willow Crossing. There are a few slips to clear off yet on the old road which will then be open for traffic. The railway, will strike the road again, at the small tunnel about 2½ miles (4 km) from the Willow Crossing; it then runs parallel with the railway line, but proceeds over the hill until it gets to Gold Creek. It crosses the road in Mr Bilham's paddock. The road will be of value as a feeder to tho railway as that work progresses. Mr Malone began one portion of the road about a year and ten months ago, and has been keeping at it steadily ever since. For the last three miles he had contend with heavy slips, which he had to clear at his own expense, and thus saved the Council a good deal. For the rest of the work, however, he was lucky in having few slips to deal with. The road has been declared by experts to be one of the best graded in the district, and is a credit from an engineering point of view. The steepest grade is 1 in 14, and there are no sharp turns. The road will be a great boon to the Rakauroa settlers, who can now have easy driving from Gold Creek to Puha in two hours. The sooner Neil's road and the main Motu road are connected the better it will be. That is now being done by the Government, and when completed will considerably shorten the distance.

1 April 1909, Page 5.

RAILWAY EXTENSION.
OPENING OF WAIKOHU STATION.

This morning's up train quietly glided down the incline past the point that has for almost a twelve months marked the terminus of the iron way which is destined at some future date to open up the Motu, and, ultimately linking up with the New Zealand railway service, adding, in the words of a late Cabinet Minister, another province to the Dominion. With the tooting of the locomotive's whistle the train passed over the important structure that spans the Waikohu river, and hauled up for the first time officially at the new Waikohu station, 23½ miles from Gisborne.

Although standing practically completed since March 10 for some unexplainable reason the opening of this short length of line was delayed until this morning, to the inconvenience of the settlers beyond, especially in the matter of railing stock, which had to, be driven to Puha for loading. The railway, it will be remembered, was as the outcome of local representations, opened to the temporary stopping place that was provided by the Public Works Department, at a very inconvenient and limited point, but a station that has proved a great convenience meanwhile to the users of the railway. The extension to the new station immediately across the river, which was effected to day, is much overdue, a fact arising from the difficulty that beset the contractors, Messrs McLonghlin and Co., in spanning the river with a substantial timber bridge for both rail and road traffic. The river bed was found to be unusually unstable, and some of the piles had to be driven as much as 30 feet before the required resistance was found which would afford a guarantee against subsidence under the heaviest traffic. Whilst only a length of about 30 chains, to-days-addition has probably cost about £6000.

Waikohu station has been placed in the hands of a porter in charge, Mr C. W. Sefton and the position of the bridge is such that, being for combined traffic, trains have to be piloted across the structure. Persons having occasion to use the structure, Mr Day, station-master in charge at Gisborne, advises, would do well to keep a sharp lookout. The temporary station at Willow Crossing is being demolished.

In view of the inconvenience occasioned to the general public by the name of the new station being the same as the well-known sheep station, Mr W. D. S. MacDonald, MP., is endeavoring to have the name changed to the more distinctive title of Willow Crossing.

2 February 1911, Page 4.

OPENING OF NEILL ROAD.

ACCESS TO THE RAILWAY.

Construction work upon Neill road has sufficiently advanced to permit the passage of wheel traffic. The opening of this road is of considerable importance to the Motu district, affording as it does a new and more direct approach for wheel traffic to and from the present rail-head at Otoko.

The tortuous "front road," by which vehicular traffic up till the present has reached this back-block settlement, deviates from the railway at Waikohu, 23 miles from town. Motu is about 21 miles distant from Waikohu railway station. Over this road, ascending and descending intervening hills, the whole of Motu's heavy traffic has been hauled. The opening of the last section of the Neill road brings the rail-head at Otoko within about 20 miles by dray road of Motu, and provides a much easier route to the railway. Vehicular traffic his hitherto been effectually cut off by an incomplete stretch of four miles, passing through heavy bush just beyond Matawai.

Last winter the Minister for Public Works, the Hon. R. McKenzie, announced his intention of having this remaining portion of the road open for this season's wool traffic, and the local officers of the Department are to be congratulated upon their success in carrying out the fulfilment of the Minister's promise.

The work is of more than passing interest. Neill road should provide incentive to development of settlement and railway traffic. Twelve months from now, according to the Ministerial prediction, railway trains should be running to Matawai. The rail-head will then be only eight or nine miles distant from Motu township.

Construction work in the early part of the season did not indicate much prospect of the opening of the road this summer. At the beginning of December there was about 2½ miles (4 km) of road formation incomplete. The work is now sufficiently advanced for the road to be declared open. On Sunday last Mr J. Hutchinson drove through with a buggy, whilst Mr G. Shierlaw has had the distinction of taking the first motor car through.

As the railway advances Neill road will become the service road for the railway construction work, and in view of the large amount of traffic and the wet country traversed through the bush, it is to be hoped that metalling will be carried out, otherwise it will be quite impassable to wheel traffic in winter time. Given anything like fine weather, the road should be available for about two months' traffic before the wet season sets in.

The road-construction work was directed by Mr Brooks, the Department's overseer, under the supervision of the Resident Engineer, Mr Armstrong.

Current and Previous Road names.

SH2 and SH35: State Highway 2 and 35.