Motoring
Southland District Council is pleased to announce that the first 13km section of Lower Hollyford Road has been restored and will reopen on today (Friday 11 December), nine days ahead of schedule.
The road, which was severely damaged during the February floods, has been repaired up to Girder Creek, about 1km past the airstrip.
The repair work was carried out by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s Milford Alliance team.
They will resume work on restoring the final 3km of road, from Girder Creek to the head of the Hollyford Track, in mid-January, with completion expected by late April 2021.
Lower Hollyford Road is owned by Southland District Council but is designated as a special purpose road, which means it attracts full funding by Waka Kotahi.
The final 3km section of road has been extensively damaged by river erosion. Repair work involves building rock armoury along sections on the lower Hollyford River and strengthening other river bank protection sites that were weakened by the February storm. The work proposal was reviewed by Geotech and there is confidence that the restoration work will last and protect the road in further flood events.
The cost of restoring the full 16km of Lower Hollyford Road is estimated at $2.3 million.
Southland District Council strategic manager transport Hartley Hare says Council is grateful that Waka Kotahi agreed to fund the restoration of the full length of Lower Hollyford Road, as it will place no burden on Southland District ratepayers.