Fallen trees on Coast Rd, Pongaroa also proved a hazard. Photo / Supplied
Fallen trees on Coast Rd, Pongaroa also proved a hazard. Photo / Supplied
Tararua Alliance and Tararua District Council are pleading for understanding from people as they work to repair more than 1000 faults in the district's roads.
Alliance manager Matt Erard said his workers had come under fire for the state of the roads following the recent rains.
"It's disheartening."
Especially whenthe teams were out there working in the wind and the rain.
Erard said he felt for the travelling public but his teams were doing their best to keep on top of all the issues.
What made it more challenging was it seemed to be never ending. They would feel as if they were getting on top of it then another downpour would create more issues.
Erard said in weather such as the Tararua district had been experiencing, potholes could appear within minutes.
"They don't form over a long duration. They can literally form by one pass of a truck."
There were also more restrictions when it came to funding, with high inflation rates, creating the "perfect storm".
Tararua District Council group manager of infrastructure Chris Chapman said there was an extraordinarily large amount of emergency works or storm damage on the district's road network at the moment.
"There's a lot going on."
Workers had been doing their best to repair potholes, but the fix was temporary at best for most of them.
"Potholes are very hard to repair," Chapman said.
With the amount of rain, that also meant conditions were not great for looking after the roads, especially in trying to clear slips.
However, Tararua Alliance had some good processes in place and were able to do onsite risk assessments so they were able to gauge when they could start clearing.
"Some of it's learning by mistakes," Chapman said.
A dropout on Coast Rd. Photo / Supplied
"They have been clearing a few slips and more slip material has come down."
While many people said that it was "just winter", Erard said this winter had been "abnormal".
"The rain data does prove that."
Blockage caused by a slip on Pahaheki Rd. Photo / Supplied
He said so far this calendar year, the district had more rain this year than for the whole of last year.
The MetService noted that for many regions, July had been the wettest on record.
There was hope, however, with it looking like weather might be clearing up, at least for the next few days.
The teams were gearing up for a very busy construction season which would include maintenance repairs, pavement rehabilitation and emergency works, as well as Route 52.
The council would also be looking at reviewing funding with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, which currently provided 69 cents in the dollar for emergency works, Chapman said.
"It's a challenge because across the country, funding of roads is being looked at. The pot of money that Government has is reducing and the needs across the country are increasing."
He said with every severe storm, if there was more than $100,000 worth of damage, they would apply for more funding.
"There's been a few of those in the last 12 months."
