Eager motorists from Wairoa down to Hawke's Bay have started to cross the much anticipated new Bailey bridge.
It officially opened at 7am on Sunday, three months after being wiped out by a wall of water laden with forestry slash during Cyclone Gabrielle.
"It's a blessing we are going to be able to reconnect, just gonna run on that side and hug everybody," Putorino resident Violet Tumataroa told Newshub.
An emotional Wairoa Deputy Mayor Denise Eaglesome-Karekare added she was "hanging out to see my little girls in Hastings and I have waited 90 days to see that!"
The one-lane, 42-metre-long temporary connection will make access to healthcare, fuel, and supplies easier, and reconnect families cut off from each other for three months.
Putorino farmer Pagen Goldstone who hasn't been able to get stock out to the works or see family in Wairoa says "It's just great, really great as a temporary option but we as a community want a more resilient road."
Many are calling for Waka Kotahi to consider options like re-routing SH2 because "five days of every month it is closed and it's well known to be treacherous".
Wairoa farmer and maize grower Allan Newton called the state highway "a moa track that's just evolved".
Cyclone Gabrielle damaged 98 sites on the stretch of highway, including burying Devil's Elbow in under two metres of silt and destroying the vital bridge over Waikare Gorge.
"This is just the start and we are absolutely looking at a number of options for the future of SH2 as part of our Resilience project," Waka Kotahi's regional manager of maintenance and operations Jaclyn Hankin said.
At an emotional blessing of the bridge on Saturday, Eaglesome-Karekare pleaded with Waka Kotahi and the forestry sector.
"We need a State Highway that is resilient. Water does not collapse bridges, forestry does. Our plea to the forestry sector is 'do not let this happen again,'" Eaglesome-Karekare said.
Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency said the work to restore access along the cyclone-damaged stretch of highway has progressed "faster than anticipated", with favourable weather helping accelerate the construction of the Waikare Gorge Bailey bridge.
"The road will look very different to the way it did before the cyclone and we're still finalising what traffic management and restrictions may be in place to help keep everyone safe and allow our crews to continue repairs to the road," Waka Kotahi's Hankin said.
The section between Aropaonui Road through to just north of Waikare Gorge will initially be closed at night (open daily between 7am and 6pm), while roading crews will continue working on further repairs to SH2 in the weeks and months to come.
