The council though is unhappy with the new proposal and is seeking a meeting with NZTA
In the past 10 years, $3 million has been spent on repairs from emergency events, but both roads had a special purpose road designation, which meant they were 100% funded by NZTA.
The Niagara-Tokanui Rd, formerly State Highway 92, made up part of the Southern Scenic route through the Chaslands.
The Lower Hollyford Rd provided access to Fiordland national park’s Hollyford Valley and had an annual maintenance cost of about $100,000 — three times higher than the district average.
Emergency events skyrocketed costs from about $6200 per kilometre to about $20,000.
The Hollyford Rd was heavily damaged by flooding in February 2020 after a metre of rain was dumped on the Fiordland region in a two and a-half day period — incurring a $2m repair bill.
The Chaslands road has received 100% funding for emergency events, but was included in the council’s overall roading programme.
Council strategic manager transport Hartley Hare reported to council the two roads provided important access for recreational users, but the lack of residents on the Lower Hollyford road meant it required a disproportionate amount of ratepayer money to maintain it.
The Lower Hollyford road was the greater concern of the two because of the increased risk from the surrounding terrain.
"The main concern is if we should have another significant event and the costs associated if we have to reinstate the road," he said.
Mayor Rob Scott said there was already a shortfall of funding from the government and the reclassification decision was "almost kicking [them]" while they were down.
He believed lobbying central government about the change of status was a "no brainer".
He and chief executive Cameron McIntosh would be seeking a face-to-face meeting to discuss the funding arrangement and other potential options, Mr Scott said.
Cr Margie Ruddenklau believed all councils need to be represented through Local Government New Zealand to send a united and strong message to government.
Cr Julie Keast said she travelled the Hollyford Rd on a semi-regular basis and noticed deterioration in the road where a former slip had been repaired.
"We do not want to take this on."
Southland presently manages the nation’s largest road network of more than 5000km, which costs about $25m a year to maintain.
