Up to six months until repairs on one of Gisborne’s ‘most challenging’ roads are done

The state of sections of the road surface in places on the Waimata Valley Rd (pictured) still frustrates and worries residents. They plan a public meeting early in June to take their concerns further. Photo + Insets / Supplied

About 10% of the Gisborne District’s annual reconstruction budget will be spent on a 700-metre stretch of road, but action can’t come soon enough for residents frustrated by unsafe conditions.

Gisborne District Council has previously called Waimata Valley Rd, which “one of the most challenging roads” on its network and says increased heavy vehicle use from the forestry industry contributed to the pressure on it.

The rural road, often used by logging vehicles and as an alternate route during Cyclone Gabrielle, comes off Back Ormond Rd about 10km outside Gisborne and runs more than 30km before continuing on as Hokoroa Rd.

Residents highlighted the poor condition of the road in letters sent to the Gisborne Herald in early April, outlining their “constant concern” about serious potholes that have led to plenty of near-misses and a perceived lack of urgency in the council’s response.

One resident, who did not want to be named, told the Gisborne Herald last week the council had been sent requests for service (RFS) about the situation since the beginning of January.

“The concentrated large craters on the road outside our place are a real danger, but the whole road has issues,” they said.

The resident said the council had told them in January that the potholes would be repaired by early March.

“The cyclic potholing crew came up the road, filled some of the potholes on one side of the road and then nothing more,

“Since then, we have tried elevating the RFSs to complaints that the problem has not been addressed and lodging new RFS, but still nothing has been done.”

Potholes described as 'craters' remain a problem on Waimata Valley Rd.

“We are all left frustrated by the lack of a meaningful response from GDC.”

Another resident reported five near misses on the road on her way home from work one night last week.

Council director of community lifelines Tim Barry said GDC acknowledged Waimata Valley Rd was under pressure “like many roads in our region”.

“It is also a key economic road for farming and forestry, subject to considerable use by heavy vehicles, and this accelerates road degradation.

“This is worse in the wetter months of the year, with the combination of weak roads, high usage, and water.”

He said a record tonnage of logs had been shipped from Eastland Port recently, speaking to increased traffic volume on the road.

“We don’t have an exact number of traffic counts, however, forestry has added capacity over the recent months, contributing to more transport use.”

Barry said the council was working together with forestry on ways to improve the levels of road maintenance within existing financial constraints.

“In addition, a weight restriction is in place on Mangaheia No.4 Bridge on Tauwhareparae Rd,

“This has the effect of diverting some of the largest trucks away from the Tauwhareparae–SH35 corridor and through Hokoroa Rd to Waimata Valley and Back Ormond roads.”

He said the council planned to fully reconstruct 700m of Waimata Valley Rd from the 5.4km point to the 6.1km point over next summer at a cost of about 10% of the annual reconstruction budget.

Meanwhile, cyclic crews will continue to fill potholes smaller than 1m².

“Larger faults than this take more time to scope, estimate and repair and are programmed to be treated for stabilisation or dig-out by the pavement crews,

“These can be costly, and the crew is in high demand around the network.”

Barry said the council was prioritising pothole repairs on the city’s main roads leading to the port and industrial areas, and the work on Waimata Valley Rd would not be complete for up to six months from now.

The council has responded to questions on the issue, and the Eastland Wood Council has put out an urgent statement on it.

In a statement, Eastland Wood Council chairman Julian Kohn said the forestry industry had invested “hundreds of thousands of dollars” into Waimata Valley-Hokoroa Rd over the years.

“This is over and above our Road User Charges contribution and the Differential roading charges on forestry land,” Kohn said.

“Not only is this road integral to forestry, but it’s also one of the most important roads economically in Tairāwhiti for the next 15-20 years.

“We have been pushing the Hokoroa and Waimata Valley roads as a priority to the council for a long time.”

He said the support was ongoing, including the use of forestry contractors, metal supplies, assistance with opening up quarries, and cost sharing to achieve cost-effective maintenance to work with the council’s budget.

He said EWC had tempered the truck movements to preserve the road as much as it could.

“There are more than 90 people in our industry who rely on that road to get to work every day, and this will continue for the next 10-20 years.”

Kohn said the fundamental issue was that the road was not fit for purpose.

“It needs significant capital work to improve the pavement and water controls, as well as an appropriate ongoing maintenance budget,

With the support of iwi and other primary sectors, EWC hopes to prepare a business case with the central Government asking for targeted investment on the road, he said.

“These roads are important as alternative routes if the fragile state highway network infrastructure is under threat, and the state of these roads significantly impacts us economically as a region.”