Tairāwhiti/Hawke’s Bay state highway recovery projects allocated $250m

The Tairāwhiti and Hawke's Bay regions have been granted $250 million towards state highway recovery projects, the coalition Government announced on Friday.   

Transport Minister Simeon Brown said the funding would come from Budget 2024 and he confirmed the indicative regional breakdown from a total of $609.25m (The Gisborne Herald has sought a further breakdown for Tairāwhiti and Wairoa). 

“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.” 

The funding would enable NZ Transport Agency and Transport Rebuild East Coast to complete the recovery phase across the Tairāwhiti and Hawke's Bay state highway network, a government statement said. 

Also included in the budget is recovering local roads affected by the North Island weather events, which has been allocated $330m over the next two years. 

Brown said the coalition Government would invest $50m in local road response work to Gisborne District Council and Hastings District Council. 

“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. 

“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." 

Gisborne District Council community lifelines director Tim Barry said the council was grateful for all funding provided to the region this budget year. 

“We look forward to continuing to work closely with the Transport Agency as we plan our forward works.”