This Week's Summary

Kenepuru Road to the Heads, and its side roads remain restricted to residents, emergency and essential services. 

Due to the weather forecast over the next two days, the planned closures on Queen Charlotte Drive between Shakespeare Bay and the Picton lookout, will not be in operation on Friday 12 April. These closures are planned to resume on Monday 15 April. 

Please see the road closure section for more information. 

The impending weather forecast may also affect other planned recovery work sites. 

Multiple work sites on Queen Charlotte Drive between the new MSE wall site near Cullen Point through to Governors Bay remain in place. Please factor more time into your travel plans and expect delays. Worksite locations include:

• MSE wall near Cullen Point (approx 1.7km from SH6/Havelock turnoff).
• The installation of a new culvert near Moenui Road.
• A new railway iron site, 450m before Moenui Road, when travelling towards Picton is scheduled to commence next week.
• The installation of two railway iron walls approximately 1.9km and 2.1km past Tepuia Heights, when travelling towards Picton.
• Drainage upgrades and repair of a drop-out, 750m past The Grove Jetty when travelling towards Picton.
• The construction of a retaining wall 450m past Aussie Bay when travelling towards Picton.
• Road realignment and slip repairs at Governors Bay. 

Works at the above locations are under stop/go traffic management.

Work to build a new retaining wall just prior to Portage near the Torea Road intersection, on Kenepuru Road is scheduled to start next week. 

Rock revetment work continues, approximately 7km up Onamalutu Road from the Northbank Road turnoff.

Please ensure you keep to the reduced temporary speed limits when travelling through worksites to ensure the safety of our crews and road users. We thank you for your patience.

Keep reading for information on:

• Road Closures
• Kenepuru Road Restrictions
• Other Road Restrictions
• Resident Definition
• Awatere Valley 
• French Pass
• Kenepuru Road
• Northbank
• Port Underwood Road 
• Queen Charlotte Drive
• Waihopai Valley Road 

Road Closures

Queen Charlotte Drive 

Due to the weather forecast over the next two days, the planned closures on Queen Charlotte Drive between Shakespeare Bay and the Picton lookout, will not be in operation on Friday 12 April. These closures are planned to resume on Monday 15 April, at the following days/times:

• Monday to Friday
• 7am to 9am up to 10 minute delays
• 9am to 3pm openings on the hour, every hour to clear waiting traffic. 

Please be aware that it can take some time to clear the queues, so you may not travel through the site exactly on the hour. 

Kenepuru Road Restrictions

Kenepuru Road to the Heads, and its side roads remain restricted to residents, emergency and essential services. 

These roads have severe storm damage and entry into this section of Kenepuru Road is at resident and emergency or essential service drivers' discretion. 

Extreme care should be exercised and daylight driving only is strongly recommended. 

Residents vehicles up to 12.6m in length, and 6 tonne in weight can travel on Kenepuru Road and the following side roads; Mahau Road, Torea Road and Moetapu Bay Road as far as Double Bay Reserve. 

This means residents can access boat launching areas at Double Bay Reserve, Torea, Portage and along Mahau Road.

On all other side roads, between Kenepuru Road to the Heads no vehicles over 8m in length or 3.5 tonne in weight are permitted. 

The Marlborough District Council's barge subsidy is available for resident's vehicles that are outside these dimensions.

The Council's water taxi subsidy is available for residents, workers and visitors to areas in the Marlborough Sounds that were previously accessible by road. 

For more information on the Council's transport subsidies visit their website. 

For a full list of what is deemed an emergency or essential service visit the Council's website.

The following restrictions apply on this section of Kenepuru Road and it's side roads including Moetapu Bay Road;

• No campervans, vans or buses.
• Only 4WD and light vehicles.
• On Kenepuru Road to the Heads, Torea Road, Mahau Road and Moetapu Bay Road to Double Bay Reserve, no vehicles over 12.6m in length or 6 tonne in weight. 

On all side roads off Kenepuru Road to the Heads, excluding Torea Road, Mahau Road and Moetapu Bay Road to Double Bay Reserve, no vehicles more than 8 metres in length or 3.5 tonne.

Residents only are permitted to walk and cycle on the restricted access section of Kenepuru Road and Moetapu Bay Road.

There are the following hazards on this section of Kenepuru Road and Moetapu Bay Road;

• Slips.
• Drop outs.
• Single lane in places.
• Increased hazard during rain.
• Uneven surfaces and gravel sections.

Other Road Restrictions

Queen Charlotte Drive between Linkwater and Picton is open to all vehicles less than 12.6m. Vehicles over 12.6m must obtain a permit to drive on this section of Queen Charlotte Drive. These permits can be obtained by emailing the Marlborough Roads NZTA office on MRoadsadmin@nzta.govt.nz.

Anakiwa Road is open to vehicles less than 12.6m. Beyond Tirimoana Jetty, only light vehicles weighing less than 3.5 tonnes are allowed, unless by prior arrangement.

French Pass and Tennyson Inlet are accessible, but drivers should be aware that the road is narrower than usual in some sections.

Please be aware that on all roads, including those with public access, there may be areas of works and traffic management in place. Please expect delays and follow all signage and traffic management.

Heavy rain may lead to roads needing to be closed urgently. No matter the status of the road, drive to the conditions.

To check the status of a road before you travel, please visit the Civil Defence Emergency Map.

Resident Definition

The definition of a resident, in terms of who is able to access roads restricted to resident and emergency services is; 

A permanent resident, owner of a holiday home/bach, or the owner of a commercial interest.

It does not include visitors who are hiring or renting a holiday home or bach, where rental arrangements have been made through either a property letting agency or directly with the owner. 

French Pass

Winter maintenance works have commenced in the French Pass area. Last week crews carried out stabilisation work at various sites on Croisilles Road and Croisilles-French Pass Road, before completing sealing work this week.

Works on the new boat ramp in French Pass township is now planned for late June 2024. This will allow crews to work in with tide times. More information will be shared in this update once the dates are confirmed.

Kenepuru Road

Due to the weather forecast over the next two days, works on Kenepuru Road just prior to Portage near the Torea Road intersection, are now planned to start next week.

These works are to install an anchored retaining wall at this site. The first stage of works will involve vegetation removal and making preparations for foundations. These works will be carried out under priority giveway. 

Culvert upgrades and water channel clearance work is scheduled to start next week on Akerbloms Road. These works will be carried out under stop/go traffic management and are weather dependent. 

Northbank

Rock revetment work continues, approximately 7km up Onamalutu Road from the Northbank Road turnoff. Work will continue at this location next week under stop/go traffic management. 

Culvert repair work has been completed on Northbank Road, 150m prior to Pine Valley Road when travelling from SH6.

Rock revetment works on Onamalutu Road

Port Underwood Road

The construction of a retaining wall and installation of a culvert is scheduled to begin on Port Underwood Road next week. 

This work is approximately 4km from the Picton end of Port Underwood Road, near Whatamango Bay and will be completed under stop/go traffic management.

Queen Charlotte Drive

From Monday 15 April  weekday road closures will resume on Queen Charlotte Drive between the Picton Lookout and Shakespeare Bay from 9am to 3pm, with openings on the hour every hour. There will be delays of up to 10 minutes between 7am to 9am at this location. These closures are for Port Marlborough to undertake logging operations and the removal of wilding pines and wattles.

There are multiple recovery sites under construction along the length of Queen Charlotte Drive. Work at these sites will be under stop/go traffic management, please expect delays. 

Crews have been working on the construction of a MSE (Mechanically Stabilised Earth) wall and associated drainage upgrades on Queen Charlotte Drive (approximately 1.7km from the SH6/Havelock turnoff) near Cullen Point, Mahakipawa Hill.

This week crews have started building the drainage base of the new wall. Next week crews will continue building the MSE wall from the base upwards. 

Work to install a new culvert and repair the road continues, just prior to Moenui Road when travelling from Havelock. Last week the last sections of the culvert were installed upstream. This week work will continue to install the wing walls on the outlet and reshape the ground upstream. 

A new railway iron site, 450m before Moenui Road, when travelling towards Picton is scheduled to commence in the next two weeks.

The construction of two railway iron walls, approximately 1.9km and 2.1km past Tepuia Heights, on Queen Charlotte Drive when travelling towards Picton, is close to completion. Sealing is scheduled to be completed early next week. Users of the Link Pathway will be guided through these sites by traffic management.

Work is being undertaken 750m past The Grove Jetty, when travelling towards Picton to complete drainage upgrades and repair a dropout. This week a new culvert was replaced and pavement reinstatement works started. 

Work continues 450m past Aussie Bay. There are two new retaining walls under construction at this site. This week crews poured concrete for the new kerb at the first wall and sealing is scheduled to be undertaken next week. At the second retaining wall site, the old wall was removed this week, with anchor drilling starting next week. 

Work to realign the road and repair a slip continues 70m past Governors Bay when travelling towards Picton. Last week crews laid mesh and applied shotcrete to the slope of the slip. 

Please note there will be increased truck movements while work is being carried out. Please plan ahead for delays.

Please keep to the reduced temporary speed limits when you're travelling through our worksites to ensure the safety of crews and road users. We thank you for your patience.

Shotcrete operation on the wall near Governors Bay

Excavating the second wall site near Aussie Bay 

Waihopai Valley Road

Maintenance work was carried out last week on the ramp onto the bailey bridge on Waihopai Valley Road, 30km from the SH63 turnoff.

Repaired sections on the Waihopai bailey bridge

More Information

If you require welfare support contact recovery@marlborough.govt.nz or phone Council on 03 520 7400.

For local roading alerts/updates go to Marlborough District Council's website.

Sign up to the Antenno app to receive notifications on your phone.

Check the Civil Defence Emergency Management map for road access restrictions. 

Phone: 0800 213 213 or 03 520 8024, between 8.00am - 5.00pm, Monday to Friday.

Email: recovery@marlboroughroads.com