SH1 increased height damages Levin resident's car

The increased road height on State Highway One in southern Levin is causing concern for some residents.

New road surfacing on SH1 in southern Levin has raised the road height, causing concern for some residents who live along it.

Lisa Clark said the road outside her property was now so high that the underneath of her car had been damaged as she attempted to negotiate the steep rise out of her driveway.

Customers of the cattery business she runs from the property had been forced to park around the corner as they did not want to drive into her driveway, she said,

Clark was also concerned about surface water flooding down off the road surface and into her property during the coming winter.

The roadworks had been underway for the past five weeks, and while dust and noise had been an annoyance, it was only temporary so she had ignored it, she said.

However she returned home from work at the end of last week to find the road considerably higher than it had been due to a new layer of surfacing.

"It wasn't until they did that final lot of sealing on Friday while I was at work [that it became a problem]," she said.

The noise from traffic had also considerably increased since the height was raised, as a brick wall running along the front of the property now did little to block it as it was too low.

"I was saying to [the contractors] about the noise, but they just said 'how can it be any different, it's only 200mm?' - but it is," Clark said.

A representative from the contractors for the works had been in touch and said the company would probably pay for the damage to Clark's car, she said.

"There was another letter in the mailbox this morning that said little concrete ramps would be put in front of the drive but they're not doing anything about the gutter or footpath."

The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) is responsible for the roading project as it is on a state highway.

The agency's Regional Transport Systems Manager Mark Owen said they were aware of the situation,

"The NZ Transport Agency is aware of concerns regarding the cross-section of the road and members of our staff visited the site on Friday. We have also raised the issue with our contractors and will be continuing discussions to resolve the issue," he said.