Government provides $567m more for work on weather-damaged highways

8:10 pm on 31 July 2023

Flooding on State Highway 2 in Otoko in Tai Rāwhiti District. Photo: NZ Police

The government will give a further $567 million to Waka Kotahi for work on cyclone-damaged state highways in the Tai Rāwhiti, Wairoa, Hawke's Bay, Coromandel and Northland regions.

The funding comes from the $6 billion National Resilience Plan that was announced in May's Budget.

In a statement, Cyclone Recovery Minister Grant Robertson said the plan would support building infrastructure that was more resilient to climate change impacts.

Over time, it would address infrastructure deficits that have held New Zealand back, he said.

"We need to ensure that transport infrastructure is rebuilt quickly post the weather events, but also that they are built in a resilient way as increasingly severe weather events will continue to hit New Zealand."

Transport Minister David Parker said nearly all transport links had now been restored in cyclone and flood-affected areas, but that many of those roads needed to be made safer and more resilient.

"We need permanent solutions in places where Bailey bridges were put in to reopen river crossings. This extra funding will replace or strengthen and rebuild damaged bridges," Parker said in a statement.

The money would also be used to improve the road surface removing potholes and cracks caused by the flooding, he said.

The government had already contributed $210m since February this year to local road repairs which were usually the responsibility of local government, he said.

Robertson said the government would continue to support all affected communities to "build back better".