Council is set to accelerate its slip and dropout repair programme of work following a recent funding award of $29M from NZTA, and the appointment of a contracting panel to deliver the work.

Council has been working closely with NZTA to fix over 400 slips and dropouts across the region that resulted from Cyclone Gabrielle and subsequent weather events.

Tim Barry, Director Community Lifelines, says the recent funding from NZTA is for 229 approved slip and drop out sites.

“We are incredibly grateful to receive this funding, it will enable us to continue our efforts and make substantial progress in restoring the region’s roads.

The approved funding represents an initial focus on less complex solutions that can be progressed with minimal preparation. More complex sites are funded to complete designs and over time will be submitted for additional construction funding approvals. This will be a multi-year programme.

A further 91 sites are pending review and are estimated to require funding of over $10M.

“To date 59 slips and dropouts have been repaired thanks to earlier funding from NZTA. There is additional funding support from Crown Infrastructure Partners for sites that don't initially qualify.

“We estimate that the total cost of the slip and dropout programme will be around $60M over three years.

“This is a big programme of work, and we need a large, coordinated team to help us deliver it.

To deliver this programme Council put out a call for tenders for a contractor panel in late August.

The tender closed mid-September and following an exhaustive assessment process, 10 local contractors, from 34 submissions country-wide, have been selected for appointment to the panel for non-complex repair work.

“Now we want to start this work as quickly as possible.

“Selected contractors require establishment time, so in the interim we’re starting work this Thursday with an early award of $2M for regional work through our road maintenance contracts.

Once the wider programme is underway, Council will publish more details on the location and timing of repairs.

“This funding approval and the appointment of contractors marks a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to rebuild and strengthen our region’s infrastructure.

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