Motorists upset by worsening potholes can be assured this is one of the more minor, but predictable, consequences of climate change. As a farmer accustomed to driving on dirt and gravel roads, I’ve long noticed how potholes begin as a puddle after rain, and get bigger as and if the rain persists. (The ground at the bottom of the pothole softens because of the water sitting in it, and is then violently expelled from the hole whenever a vehicle drives through. With further rain, the new, lower base of the pothole softens and gets ejected again, and the hole progressively deepens.) Earth’s atmosphere holds ever more water vapour as it heats up — 7 per cent for each extra degree Celsius of heat. (So the term “atmospheric rivers” is being used in connection with some of the worst flooding events recently, such as the flooding in eastern Australia and Pakistan this year.) Increasing atmospheric vapour produces bigger and more frequent rains, as we saw here this spring. That, plus traffic, caused the potholes. Let’s be thankful we’ve not been flooded as those two counties were — not yet, anyway. (As a farmer, I was glad of that rain. It was good for the trees, recharged the groundwater, and has produced a bumper crop of grass.) Jill Whitmore, Panmure
On to the problem
Neil Reid’s Herald article of December 28 on the nationwide roading pothole problem was in many respects symbolic of what is happening right across the landscape of this country. However, we should not give up hope. It’s encouraging that Waka Kotahi has finally worked out the main cause of potholes being water from rainfall. Also encouraging is that the minister in charge of potholes, Michael Wood, has stepped into the fray and ordered a please explain why there are so many of these tyre-poppers, albeit there is no conclusive way of establishing how many of these little blighters exist. Minister Wood may also be on to something big by employing the much-loved political strategy to engage some heavy-hitting external expertise to work out what is happening at the delivery end i.e. repairing these annoying potholes. Ending on a high note, 45000 potholes (with an assumed 5 per cent margin of error) were fixed in 2021-22 which, if nothing else, indicates the accuracy of government analysis, statistics and record keeping. Bruce Eliott, St Heliers
Increased weights
Is it any wonder our roads are in poor condition when the maximum allowable weight was increased from 43 tonnes to 55 tonnes in 2010, then in 2016 the maximum weight per axle was increased for some vehicle configurations and yet the amount spent on road maintenance by Waka Kotahi and councils has barely increased until this year when it was increased by 44 per cent. I suggest the people and political parties who supported the above strategies take some responsibility for the condition of the roads today, which was predicted by the then opposition parties when the changes to the regulations were made. Jon Eriksen, Newmarket
Quality decline
Some people are expressing surprise and disappointment at the state of our roads. But the decline in the quality of road making was both predictable and predicted. The Ministry of Works roads built over the past hundred years are now beginning to need repair but the work is being done by incredibly incompetent for-profit businesses who are incentivised to do poor work for the money involved in putting on patches. Starting in Roman times, bureaucrats have always been brilliant road builders. Mark Nixon, Remuera
KiwiRail project
I would like to thank David Gordon (COO, Capital Projects and Asset Development, KiwiRail) very much for his Herald article (December 26), which clearly explains reasons and procedures for the three-year rail rebuild currently under way in Auckland. This overview allows us to gain much-needed understanding of the scope and necessity for such complicated works and goes some way to damping down feelings of annoyance and frustration at the lack of train services just now. Perhaps someone from Waka Kotahi (NZTA) could shed similar light on roading plans including resurfacing problems in the Auckland road network. This also would be greatly appreciated. Elizabeth Probert, Remuera
Border reopening
Act puts business interests ahead of lives. Brooke van Velden says the Act Party would have opened our borders long before the vaccination programmes were completed and long before anti-viral medication was available for the infected. Chaos would have followed, the likes of which we witnessed in New York and Milan. Jacinda acted on professional advice from epidemiologists and clinicians at all times during this crisis. She waited until vaccination targets had reached 90 per cent and anti-viral medication was available thus saving thousands of lives. It is the unvaccinated and the unmedicated that are suffering the most at present. Many of us are coping well with a relatively mild infection. Hospitalisation and intensive care, not required. Ignorance is not bliss. Act seems to pursue the failed policies of the past. Alistair Anderson, Whakatane
Drug testing
The article on testing for drugs lacks logic, in that unknown drugs are unknown and therefore the testing is actually impossible until you know what you are testing for. Polonium is deadly but we don’t test for it! All legal pharmaceuticals have an audit trail, whereas the guy in the nightclub or at the festival is selling something that is not provable and usually is not what is claimed. The only way to avoid this problem is to sell these drugs through pharmacy, as used to happen with LSD and methamphetamine on a doctor’s prescription. The current system reminds me of Jack and the beanstalk, where he sold the family cow for five magic beans, to a persuasive stranger. Neville Cameron, Coromandel
Safe driving
Glenn Forsyth (NZ Herald, December 28) was spot on with his advice on safe driving. Motor vehicle crashes (they are not “accidents”) are not a result of speed, road surface or alignment, time of day, or weather conditions. They occur because drivers don’t exercise total concentration while driving. Roading improvements and expensive advertising campaigns will not make any change to the crash rate. In the early 1980s, the road toll was consistently around 700; now, with many more cars on our roads it is in the 300s. Are driving skills improving? How can we explain this? John Walsh, Green Bay
Different crimes
People conflate the Sandringham tragedy with ram raids. They are different. The former being committed by recidivist criminals and the latter by immature young people living through what is becoming a potentially deadly fad, but so far, not with much lethality. The police are picking off these young people one by one and concentrating on the more damaged leaders of these groups, which tends to collapse the group as a whole. There were 350 arrests in the Waikato alone. Others then work with these young, and sometimes very young, people to help them mend their ways, and/or to administer fitting punishment. The perpetrators of the Sandringham tragedy are all in prison now. However, newspapers and politicians continue to politicise and sensationalise these crimes making it all seem so “out of control”. Let’s just let the professionals do what they need to do to deal with this current diminishing problem without all the unnecessary noise. Niall Robertson, Balmoral
Short and sweet
On speed limits
The answer to Janet Boyle’s question re the new 60km/h speed limit reducing crashes on the Coatesville-Riverhead highway is almost certainly no. However, there has been a huge increase in revenue generated by the friendly neighbourhood speed camera. Conversely, off the highway where we live on a narrow, no-footpath residential road with an incongruous 80km/h limit, an accident is waiting to happen. Brent Cooper, Coatesville
On road projects
We get the impression that the new road north will remain in good condition as long as no one uses it. Brian Cuthbert, Army Bay
On cigarettes
In response to Neil Anderson, it would be interesting to get a total breakdown of tax revenue of the sale of cigarettes in New Zealand and see how much of the $1.8 billion is actually spent on healthcare, especially for patients who have been hooked on smoking and can’t get out of the habit. Smoking is the worst addiction. And $1.8b in taxes seems a nice little earner for the Government. D Meertens, Te Aroha
On missing mechanics
I’ve been amused by the observations foreign tourists make about New Zealand, like our bland cheeses, for example. What puzzles me is that it’s virtually impossible to find a garage providing mechanic services at the very time of year when you would expect them to be busiest. Doug Hannan, Mount Maunganui
On striking hens
Although the industrial labour market is not as militant as it has been, we are not surprised when there is a withdrawal of service for some reason. However, things have come to a pretty pass when it is the poultry that have gone on strike and brought the egg market to a standstill to the consternation of the eggs benedict brigade. Peter Clapshaw, Remuera
On Auckland’s mayor
Right now Ports of Auckland CEO Roger Gray is making a damn sight more sense than dogmatic Mayor Wayne Brown! Lloyd McIntosh, West Harbour
Premium debate
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown tells Ports of Auckland: Council will decide waterfront land’s future, not you
This is a textbook example of why politicians should be not allowed within a bull’s roar of a business enterprise. Sooner or later they are going to get in the way of running the business and sooner or later they will destroy the business because their political agenda ignores the business needs of the customers. So their customers look for someone else to satisfy those needs. Think no further than TVNZ. And who loses? Why the shareholders of course, and in the case of Ports of Auckland who is that? Oh yes, that would be the ratepayers of Auckland. Makes for a very expensive new waterside park! Hope Auckland ratepayers think it’s worth it. After all they have so few opportunities to get down to the water now, do they? Colin J.
I don’t live in Auckland, but if it’s any help Port Wellington has about one container boat per week and could do with more business. Also, I hope Mayor Brown is not relying on KiwiRail for moving more freight because apart from frequent derailment and signals failures up and down the motu they are subsidised by the taxpayer to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Richard M.
Why does the port of Auckland need its own CEO, board chair and board when these positions could easily be handled by a management group within council rather than the ratepayers forking out for more bloated bureaucracy. David S.
I like the way Brown is shaking things up. AT needs it the most. However, I’m not sure about the urgency over Auckland’s ports. Auckland is NZ’s gateway and I believe we need cars and goods delivered here rather than arriving at another city just to be sent here by road or rail. I thought the Firth of Thames seemed like a logical option. Steven W.
It’s not all about Auckland though, is it. Seems pretty stupid that most freight is coming into NZ via Auckland — when it’s actually required all over NZ. The ships should unload in the most efficient location and it’s now proven that Auckland is not that ... all it’s done is increase costs, traffic jams and is environmentally inept. Anthony C.
Maybe just move all the imported cars arriving into NZ. Shift them to Northport. Keep container shipping in Auckland but get rid of ugly cars parked on premium space here. That will make a huge difference to our waterfront. David F.
As a small and isolated nation, imports are a necessity, and it can be expected there will be some subsidising of it. However, let’s make a plan first, build the new port and required railways to move the goods in and out, then move the Auckland port. One step at a time please. Kathy A.
It seems that Brown has still not realised that the mayor of Auckland is not in fact in charge of Auckland, and that the Council Controlled Organisations are not in fact controlled by council. Perhaps he needs to review the National/ACT Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009, which was opposed in Parliament by Labour, the Greens and the Maori Party. Brian C.
