The government has confirmed the regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event funding for state highway recovery projects.
Transport Minister Simeon Brown said regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods.
“In Budget 2024 our government committed $609.25 million in capital funding for state highway recovery to restore roads back to their previous condition.
“This breakdown of funding gives affected communities certainty that the government will deliver on its promise to fund state highway recovery projects.
The indicative regional breakdown includes approximately $131.3m for Northland state highway recovery projects, $21m for the Coromandel, and $250m for the east coast.
“Investing in the recovery of our road networks is critical to restoring vital access to goods, services, and employment opportunities for affected communities across the North Island.
“We’re committed to the recovery effort, and a key part of this will be restoring vital state highways across the region as part of our plan to get people and freight to where they want to go, quickly and safely.”
The recovery works include permanent structural or pavement repairs, drop out repairs, bridge re-establishment works, benching and shaping of slip sites, rockfall protection systems, and river training and scour protection.
Work across projects in Northland is expected to be completed by the end of 2024, Coromandel by mid-2025, Hawke’s Bay by late 2025, and in Tairāwhiti by mid-2026.
Budget 2024 also invests an additional $330m over two years to continue the response and recovery work on local roads that were affected by the North Island Weather Event (NIWE) .
“In addition to the state highway recovery funding, the coalition government is investing $50m in local road response to enable Gisborne District Council and Hastings District Council to continue critical response work across their districts.
“Recovery funding of $280m will support 13 councils affected by NIWE, and NZTA is working with councils to prioritise and accelerate delivery of this funding to local road recovery projects.”
