New Zealand Allocates $40 Million to Strengthen Key South Island Route to Milford Sound

The New Zealand Government will soon begin resilience upgrades on State Highway 94 (SH 94) between Te Anau and Milford, a vital corridor for the country’s top natural tourist attraction. Minister James Meager said the $40 million allocated in Budget 2026 is part of a broader $150 million-plus package aimed at reinforcing five of the mainland’s most vulnerable state highways. Work will start at the busy tourist pull‑over area Pop’s Corner/View Lookout, widening the narrow roadway and using rock to protect the shoulder from scouring by the Eglinton River. Additional measures will include rock anchors and a concrete underpinning slab at Marian Hill to stabilize a retaining wall that has been shifting. Six more sites on SH 94 will be addressed in the coming months. The package also covers resilience risks on SH 60 Tākaka Hill, SH 6 Cromwell‑to‑Kingston, and SH 6 Haast‑to‑Hāwea, tackling rockfall, slips, flooding and washouts that can sever communities, tourism and freight links. The investment is intended to reduce disruptions for residents, provide certainty for businesses, improve freight reliability and ensure safer, more reliable access for the expected close to one million visitors to Milford Sound this year.