Road access restored on Stewart Island

 Southland District Council and its contractors have restored access to all roads on Stewart Island following last month’s major storm on the Island.

Asset Manager Roading Russell Hawkes said that some initial delays were encountered as machinery had to be modified to fit equipment available on the Islandbefore widening work on Leask Bay Road could commence.

Repairs to date haveonly been to restore limited access.

Mr Hawkes said most of the repairs involved work on Braggs Bay and Leask BayRoads, which were the two worst affected by the strong wind, rain and big seas.

Restoration of these roads to full use would not be completed until engineering plans and funding were available.

He said that a geologist and specialist coastal engineer spent two days on the Island to assess the slips, including the worst affected areas and have prepared a preliminaryreport to Council. Two options have been provided.

The lower cost option ($750,000 ex GST) would only repair the areas directly restricting traffic at present.

Full repair with future proofing of adjacent slip areas is estimated to cost between $1.5 and $1.7 million excluding GST.

Russell Hawkes said that subsidy applications would be made to Land Transport New Zealand and it is up to it to set the subsidy rate, which will determine the final amountthat Council must pay.