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State Highway Resilience Programme: Budget 2026
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi · National / Multi-region
Budget 2026 committed $400m to six chronically vulnerable state highway corridors, all prone to slips and closures that isolate communities: SH2 at Waioweka Gorge, SH3 at Awakino Gorge, SH25 on the Coromandel, SH60 at Takaka Hill, SH6 between Cromwell and Kingston and between Haast and Hawea, and SH94 between Milford and Te Anau.
Data current as at 16 Sept 2026, when the pipeline was last checked against its source.
Key facts
- Region
- National / Multi-region
- Sector
- Transport
- Status
- Under Construction
- Estimated value
- $400m
- Indicative completion
- 2030
- Funding status
- Fully Funded
- Lead organisation
- NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi
- Election risk
- Low
Election risk assessment
Bipartisan support for state highway resilience. $400M fully committed in Budget 2026 across six vulnerable corridors.
Government priority alignment
HIGH: Directly delivers the government maintenance-and-resilience priority.
Recent changes
- 2026-W37Info Owner: Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency → NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi.
Chronology
- 2022Waioweka Gorge, Awakino Gorge, and Coromandel routes repeatedly closed by weather: resilience investment identified as urgent national priority
- 2025Waka Kotahi business cases developed for resilience improvements on six key vulnerable corridors
- 2026Budget 2026 allocates $400M across SH2, SH3, SH25, SH60, SH6, and SH94. Works begin
- 2026Replacement of the single-lane SH25 Ramarama Stream Bridge north of Whiritoa confirmed (about $10m): a two-lane bridge east of the near-century-old crossing, which carries over 2,500 vehicles a day, 13% of them heavy
- 2030expectedTarget for major resilience works complete across all six corridors
Source
Beehive: Preparing before disaster strikes (Budget 2026, $400m, all six corridors) ↗ · NZTA: South Island resilience (the South Island corridors) ↗