Repairing flood-damaged Banks Peninsula road to take at least 6-8 weeks

Work started last week to repair the badly damaged road into Goughs Bay on Banks Peninsula.

Access to Goughs Bay has been limited since floods and slips made the road servicing the tiny rural settlement impassable 10 days before Christmas.

Christchurch City Council contractors have been working to complete dropout repairs, remove slips and install road metal over the past three weeks but residents have been critical of the recovery response. 

• Frustration over peninsula road

"A priority for our contractors is to ensure the work is able to be completed safely," said council head of transport Lynette Ellis.

"There are two areas where water was found to be flowing through the hillside and under the main dropout.

"This has now been fixed with subsoil drains, allowing the water to exit the hillside without compromising the stability of the repair work.

"The new alignment is now expected to take six to eight weeks to complete, however, this timeframe will be subject to the weather and general site difficulties as well as the potential impacts of Covid-19 on the workforce."

The four wheel drive track between Paua Bay and Goughs Bay was finished last week, allowing residents to enter and exit the bay safely.

The road remains closed to all non-residents and landowners.