A pothole on State Highway 33 near Paengaroa in September 2022. Photo / Andrew Warner
Bay of Plenty motorists can expect delays across the region’s state highways for the rest of summer due to “unavoidable” works as roading crews play catch-up after wild weather disruptions.
It comes as Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency received 51 pothole-related complaints in the Bay of Plenty between January 1 and October 7 last year, while the Rotorua Lakes Council repaired 1418 potholes last year.
In total, 214.5 lane kilometres of road across the Bay of Plenty network needed chipseal (184.6 lane km), asphalt (18.7 lane km) and rehab (11.2 lane km) work completed between now and the end of March, according to Waka Kotahi. Some of this work had been completed prior to Christmas, but “significant volumes” of work remained.
Multiple worksites would be active this month between Iles Rd and Puketāwhero Park as part of the State Highway 30 Eastern Corridor Stage Two, as well as safety improvements at the SH30/SH33 Te Ngae junction.
Waka Kotahi regional maintenance and operations manager Rob Campbell told the Rotorua Daily Post most of the “really good weather” was over the Christmas break when they avoided major work to reduce holiday disruptions.
He said Cyclone Hale had more impact on the Coromandel Peninsula and Gisborne areas but wet weather throughout summer had put pressure on Waka Kotahi causing potholes, slips, and flooding.
“It takes [crews] away from their core business to not only manage the effect of the incident as it’s happening, but the recovery phase is quite significant.
“The weather’s giving us a bit of a break at the moment. We’re in a position where we can still deliver the vast majority of our program if we get a window of weather over the rest of the summer. Now, that’s a big if... none of us can control that.”
MetService reported the sum of rainfall across its weather stations in the six main centres of the country had 2022 as the wettest in the last 30 years.
Campbell thought crews were in an “okay” position to finish all works but that would mean more delays on the roads: “it’s unavoidable”.
“If we don’t do this work and compress it up, then we’ll have more problems next winter.
“We’ve all seen social media and the press comments and it’s a fair comment; there are more potholes than we’ve ever seen on state highways.
“If we don’t get ahead on this program, we run the risk of being the same or even worse potentially next winter. There’s going to be a lot of roadworks ... [but] if we don’t do it now we’ll be facing an issue over the winter so I think it’s actually positive.”
Waka Kotahi was playing catch up and further investment was essential, Campbell said.
In 2021, the Government revealed it was investing $24.3 billion in transport services and infrastructure as part of the National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) 2021-24.
“We need investment to carry on at this level for the next three to six years and that’s a sort of time frame for us to bring the network back to us, what the public would expect,” Campbell said.
Future investment would need to come from the NLTP 2024-27 and 2027-30 but neither of which had confirmed funding values at this stage. Funding the for 2024-27 period was being worked through currently.
Campbell said in the past couple of years abuse towards crews had increased “which is heartbreaking because they’re out there doing exactly what people want them to do - fix the road”.
Most confrontations were verbal but sometimes crews had items thrown at them, however, overwhelmingly most drivers were “very nice and appreciative”.
Nationally, 555 complaints were made about vehicle damage in the first 10 months of 2022, prompting Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand chief executive Nick Leggett to call on the Government to stop “the blame game” and focus on funding.
“The best way forward for New Zealand is to invest in infrastructure that supports our economy. New projects will help us grow our way out of our recessionary environment.
“Ninety-three per cent of all products in New Zealand are delivered by truck. Doing nothing about the state of our roads will literally bring the domestic economy to a standstill.”
Transport Minister Michael Wood said this summer would be “one of the largest maintenance seasons” undertaken by Waka Kotahi and the Government had “invested significantly” in maintenance and recovery from “extreme events”.
“Through our record-breaking investment in infrastructure, we are investing close to $7 billion in local road and state highway maintenance as part of the NLTP 2021-24, which will see around 7000 lane kilometres of state highway and 18,000 lane kilometres of local roads renewed.
“Heavy rain and weather events also make repairs extremely challenging, both on state highways and on local roads. Rain can cause temporary fills to blow out, while also creating new potholes and making existing potholes larger.
“Across the country, we have a significant programme of transport investments underway including Penlink, Pūhoi to Warkworth, Takitimu North Link, Mt Messenger bypass, and Manawatū Tararua Highway.”
⋅ SH30 Eastern Corridor Stage Two: Multiple worksites are active between Iles Road and Puketāwhero Park to excavate the shared service trench for the relocation of underground services and installation of the new water main. The upgraded footpath on the lakeside between Iles Rd to Tennyson Drive, heading east on SH30/Te Ngae Rd, is now open.
⋅ SH30/SH33 Te Ngae Junction: Construction of safety improvements continue with excavation, stabilising, and pavement work underway on the western side, with a shoulder closure in place.
⋅ SH33 Te Ngae Junction to Paengaroa: Safety improvement upgrade work continues near Pareteiro - Sun Valley Curves passing lane.
⋅ SH2 Nukuhou: Road rehabilitation continues at a site near Nukuhou.
⋅ SH2 Waioeka Gorge: An underslip at the road edge sees a section of the road under priority give way.
⋅ SH5 Reporoa: Road reconstruction is taking place outside the Fonterra factory. Work will take place between 7am and 5pm, six days a week, until mid-February.