Dust is a bone of contention on unsealed Northland roads such as here at Peria, east of Kaitaia. Photo / Supplied
Sections of six rural roads in the Far North will be sealed this financial year at a cost of just over $4 million.
Far North District Council infrastructure manager Andy Finch said $11m would be spent over 10 years to seal ''critical risk'' roads and combat dust.
"These are roads
that cause community concern about dust generation and were selected using a newly-developed prioritisation matrix. This ranks individual roads based on criteria such as traffic volumes, the number of residents on each road, the presence of schools, marae and other community facilities, and whether the road is a significant detour route.''
Finch said the new matrix made sure decisions about which roads to seal were based on transparent criteria that were applied fairly and consistently across the district.
Seal extensions on three of the roads will be funded entirely from the council's $3m unsubsidised priority seal extension programme. It is intended the remaining roads will be co-funded with the NZ Transport Agency.
