Gisborne rural road repairs update: 60 down, 200 to go this year

Repairs on Mangatu Rd near Whatatutu are among a significant number of cyclone-related rural road repairs done by council contractors since government funding was approved in October.

Work continues on the hundreds of repairs to Tairāwhiti rural roads damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle.

Gisborne District Council says 60 slips and dropouts have been repaired and contractors remain on track to repair another 200 in 2025.

Two major Government-funded programmes of work have hit “top gear” with more than $78 million to be spent on repairing more than 600 cyclone-damaged sites over the next three years, excluding bridges, a council update says.

“Since government cyclone recovery funding was approved in October, 60 slips and dropouts have been repaired and we’re on track to repair another 200 this year.

“A total of 344 slips and dropouts will be repaired by mid-2027 and some of them are on the busiest forestry and farming transport routes.”

The council aims to have all 275 “non-complex” sites completed this year.

“We’re completing designs for 87 major complex sites and that work will go to tender later this year.

“The process for some repairs seems long, as there’s a lot of preliminary work needed before any work on site starts.

“It includes environmental and cultural impact reports, applying for resource consent, design and estimates are all essential stages of each project.

“Once that’s done, we apply for funding before we can begin the tender process to select a contractor.”

The public can search by road on the council website to see the planned recovery works. Go to www.gdc.govt.nz/services/roads/road-works.