Decision day looms for Marlborough Sounds storm-battered roads

Marlborough Sounds residents will next week learn the fate of their storm-battered roads with concern about what it will mean if some aren’t repaired.

A study looking at the sustainability of the areas roading network was commissioned after two storms in the last two years.

The first storm in 2021 particularly damaged Kenepuru Road, which is one of the main routes, with repairs costing around $85 million. But before the repairs could be completed another storm hit in August causing widespread damage throughout the Marlborough Sounds.

Following last year’s August storm it was estimated there was around $400 million of damage to the regions roads.

Kenepuru Road is closed to the public and only accessible to residents, though 1News was given permission to drive in to see the damage up close.

Kenepuru Sounds Resident Stefan Schulz said some access needed to be maintained.

“Personally, I can’t see this road being closed. Simply because it’s the only road we have and it’s a vital link”.

“Not everyone has a boat and certainly not every property has water access so that would basically mean a lot of people would have a lot of problems”.

Kenepuru Sounds resident Ross Withell said the road needed to be sustainable in the future. “The farmers on the northside need that road to be able to take their truck and trailer units”.

The study has looked at five areas of the Marlborough Sounds: Kenepuru, Queen Charlotte, Port Underwood, Pelorus and Rai Valley to French Pass.

All options are on the table including total repairs, improved boat access, new boat roads and the possibility some roads won’t be repaired at all.

French Pass was cut off for weeks after the August storm and even now landslides scar the landscape.

Outer Sounds Homeowner Sheryl Elkington said it was surprising how many people had been impacted by the storm.

“We had just so much rain and all of a sudden everything just gave way. So the stability of the land is anybody’s guess”.

Elkington said her immediate concern was road maintenance, though noted a grader had gone through this week and it had improved.

“It is atrocious. We’re risking our lives because the potholes are so big, there’s so many, there’s hundreds and hundreds of them”.

The Council said a number of maintenance and emergency works were being undertaken including drainage, filling of potholes, grading and water table clearance.

The study, undertaken by engineering firm Stantec, will be released publicly on Friday June 16.