Editorial: Action needed to fix our roads

Andrew Austin, Editor of Hawke's Bay Today.

The state of the "Quarry Hill" section of Waimarama Rd has been a hot topic among locals living along the route to one of our most popular beaches.

There was great enthuisiasm when work began on the rather dangerous section earlier this year, with many road users believing it was long overdue.

The work seemed to take forever, but motorists were patient because they believed it would be worth the wait to have a safe passage down a rather steep hill.

I drive on that road every day and it takes quite a bit of traffic during the year, including stock and logging trucks.

Eventually work finished in September, but the traveller's joy was shortlived.

Barely two months later, and with peak beach season approaching, the road appears to be cracking up with corrugated sections and potholes appearing.

It is good to see that Hastings mayor Lawrence Yule has initiated a review because, as he said, the work was "well below the standard we find acceptable".

He said a draft report would be finalised at the Rural Community Board meeting on December 3, and would look at the quality of work, who's responsible, how it will be remediated and how much it will cost.

This is good news, but probably nothing will be done to fix the road before the holiday rush to the beach. Let's hope it holds up over this peak period.

But at least the council is taking action and hopefully we will see other problem roads looked at and higher standards set for our roading in future.