Work on repairing Marlborough roads damaged in the 2021 and 2022 storms is on target and coming in under budget.

Marlborough Roads Transport Recovery Manager Steve Murrin told June’s Assets and Services Committee meeting that more than half of the 5,649 faults on the roading network in Marlborough had already been repaired.

So far $134m had been spent and there was still $149m of work to be done.

“At this stage it’s tracking under budget,” he said. “The work is going really well – phase two is coming to an end and phase three is well on target.”

Mayor Nadine Taylor congratulated Mr Murrin and his team and said she’d had “really good feedback” on the work and was impressed with the quality of the roads being rebuilt.

“It has exceeded expectations in what we are delivering back into the community,” she said.

“Bringing the programme in early will be a relief to residents and means they’re seeing delivery of these new roads more quickly and putting up with a lot less disruption, which is incredibly valuable.”

The Marlborough Roads Recovery Team, a joint venture between NZTA, Marlborough Roads, Fulton Hogan and HEB Construction, was set up in August 2021 following the July storm to repair and restore the network.

It has been one of the largest roading recovery projects in the country.

The 2021 rainfall and flooding saw parts of Queen Charlotte Drive, Kenepuru Road, Northbank, Waihopai Valley and the Awatere Valley damaged and, in places, impassable. In 2022 a second major event caused twice the amount of damage with 670km of roads across the region affected.

Of the 5,629 faults recorded, 3,843 have now been repaired.

Seventy-three projects across the damaged network were currently under construction, Mr Murrin said.

Targets for the recovery programme include finishing construction sites on Queen Charlotte Drive and Picton/Port Underwood by the end of this year, French Pass by the middle of next year and Kenepuru by the end of 2027.

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