Some roadworks are essential

Some roadworks will continue throughout the Covid-19 lockdown. Picture / File

The NZ Transport Agency (Waka Kotahi) has its road crews monitoring the Northland's state highway network to ensure the safe movement of essential goods, like medical supplies to hospitals and food to supermarkets, during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Northland system manager Jacqui Hori-Hoult said all non-essential work had been halted, but maintaining the state highway system was considered vital in order to ensure that critical functions to limit the spread of the virus could continue.

"The Level 4 lockdown requires us to undertake essential maintenance activities only. Unless there are major weather-related events that require slip clearing and damage repairs, the primary and ongoing focus will be on the safety of the network," she said.

"If you see contractors out on the roads during the shutdown period, please remember that they are carrying out essential work to keep us all safe. If you are using the roads during this period, remember to comply with any temporary speed reductions through roadworks to keep workers safe. They are doing vital work, and we all owe them a debt of gratitude."

While no new maintenance work would be started, she added, there was work to complete. Under the Covid-19 restrictions, Waka Kotahi considered essential maintenance to be any unfinished work that contributed to the safe operation and resilience of the transport system.

That included line-marking and rumble strip replacement and repair, completing major road repairs that had already been started, vegetation works and mowing to ensure the inside of curves and intersection sightlines are maintained, road surfacing repairs and fixing potholes before winter, drainage works and the repairing or replacing of damaged road signs and median barriers.

Some partially-completed repair work in Northland that began before the lockdown may be finished if there was a risk of road conditions deteriorating to the point where safety could be compromised.

All other non-essential maintenance, including scheduled resealing, was on hold until the Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. Some bigger resealing projects would be deferred until the next maintenance season.

Ms Hori-Hoult said Waka Kotahi was focused on ensuring the health and safety of workers and contractors, and all essential maintenance work was carried out in line with Ministry of Health Covid-19 guidance.

"We have five crews out on the network each day. Where each crew would usually have two or three people in a vehicle, we now have each person in a separate vehicle, and they maintain social distancing while working," she added.