A five-year rebuild plan for Christchurch's earthquake-damaged roads and underground services has been announced costing more than $2 billion.
Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee made the announcement in the badly affected eastern suburb of Bexley on Friday, saying repairs to roads and wastewater networks will be prioritised for the east of the city before moving to the west.
The plan is estimated to cost $2.2 billion, with $1 billion already committed to contracts.
Mr Brownlee says the underground infrastructure in Christchurch is fragile and the plan will give people an idea about when repairs are going to take place around the city.
He says the new infrastructure will be much more capable of withstanding seismic events and will be second to none in any other city in the world.
Christchurch mayor Bob Parker says the rebuild plan will be led and funded by the council who will work with five key contractors to complete repairs.
Mr Parker says more than $100 million has been spent on rebuilding infrastructure following the earthquakes which began in September 2010.
"We've actually got to build the equivalent of 1000 kilometres of roads. So if you wanted to work that out in terms of our nation, I suppose it's like building a highway from one end of the South Island to the other and just for good measure putting on a bit of road that'll take you up to Taupo."
