A hole lotta trouble

A logging truck dodges a pothole in Ormond Road, just past the hospital, yesterday morning. Regular users of the road say the hole appeared just this week. Picture by Liam Clayton

Potholes resulting from recent weather events are causing a major increase in wrecked tyres, bent rims and misaligned wheels and Gisborne garages and tyre centres are working hard to keep up with demand.

Gisborne Beaurepaires owner Keith Cannell said there had been a huge increase in business since the region started being hit by extreme weather  — especially in the last six months.

“We have a lot more dented rims and we’re doing more wheel alignments,” he said.

“We’ve seen a 20-to-30 percent increase in business over the past 12 months as a result of the damage done by potholes.”

Neil Gooch, from Mangapapa Garage, said he used to get around one tyre a month to repair but this had gone up to one or two a week.

Mr Gooch said potholes were doing a lot of damage to modern cars with low profiles, causing them to need rim repairs as well as new tyres.

Phill Law, of Phill Law Panelbeaters, who does most of the rim repair work in Gisborne, has been flat out, particularly after the heavy rain three weeks ago.

“The rim repair work has been gradually creeping up since Christmas but it really ramped up over the last three weeks.”

The Tyre General service manager Regan Jones said people needed to drive to the conditions and be aware of the damage potholes could inflict.

“One thing I’ve noticed is a lot of the EVs don’t have a spare tyre and the owners get really frustrated when they find this out the hard way.”

For some of the European cars, it can be cheaper to get a full set of new mags and after-market rims than replace a single original rim, Mr Jones said.

The repair work had been “non-stop”. He was getting a cracked rim a day, he said.

“It’s been mental! A lot of these EVs and new cars are not suited to our roads.”

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency roading crews have been working hard to fill potholes on the state highway network around Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti.

While the wet weather has kept maintenance crews busy dealing with surface flooding, slips, fallen trees, debris and road closures, repairing potholes has continued to be a priority.

Waka Kotahi regional manager of maintenance and operations Jaclyn Hankin said the persistent problems with potholes had become worse in recent weeks.

“Water is the main contributing factor creating potholes, so we would expect to see more appear during periods of heavy rainfall like we’ve had in the past fortnight.

“Unfortunately it is also not a surprise to see some of the newly repaired potholes reopening soon after repair, such as on SH2 between Gisborne and Napier, with the sheer amount of water pressure the road is under.

“It is absolutely essential potholes are repaired and filled as quickly as possible for the safety of all road users.

“In the weeks since the most recent destructive rainfall, we have had crews out daily working to fill those potholes on the state highways on the East Coast, including on State Highway 2 north and south of Gisborne, SH5 Napier-Taupō and SH2 through Central Hawke’s Bay.

“We will keep our pothole crews out over the coming weeks, including part of this long Matariki weekend, specifically focused on repairing those holes during winter until longer-term remedial work can begin again in the warmer months.

“If you’re travelling through the areas our crews are working on, please drive to the conditions and expect possible delays.

“We know there’s a lot still to do and we can’t thank communities and road users enough for their patience, support and understanding,” Ms Hankin said.

“While our road crews are out daily working to fill these holes, we’re also encouraging road users to report the damage they see. Call 0800 4 HIGHWAYS to report issues.”