Trucking logs to the port of Napier via the Napier-Taihape Rd will increase damage to the remote highway, Rangitīkei District Council said. Photo / NZME
Trucking logs to the port of Napier via the Napier-Taihape Rd will increase damage to the remote highway, Rangitīkei District Council said. Photo / NZME
Rangitīkei District Council is concerned about more damage to the Napier-Taihape Rd if logging trucks return to the route.
At present, logs are being transported by rail to Napier’s port but that arrangement is scheduled to finish in January.
At September’s council meeting, Mayor Andy Watson said discussions with NZTransport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) about the financing of the road had been difficult.
The Napier-Taihape Rd, known as Gentle Annie Rd, is a remote highway through scenic, winding hills.
In recent years, the road has had hundreds of tonnes of logging and freight trucks on it which has led to its deterioration.
Watson said the closure resulted in another 700-1000 tonnes of log traffic a day because it was decided to send raw logs by road over the remote highway to Napier.
Damage included trucks getting stuck in the metal underneath the tar-seal and trucks travelling in the dark so they could cross the other side of the road on blind corners, posing significant danger, Watson said.
A deal was put in place late last year between the Rangitīkei and Hastings district councils, ports, KiwiRail and forestry companies to put logs back on rail.
The companies involved took cuts in profit to subsidise the rail transport until a more permanent solution is in place.
The deal is set to run out at the end of January.
Watson said he had been trying to get NZTA to contribute to the funding but its position was that the council should reprioritise its existing funding to cover costs.
NZTA said it considered the viability of designating the road as a state highway as recently as 2018.
Any review would need to begin as an application from local councils.
“NZTA understands and acknowledges the current financial pressures on all local authorities responsible for investing in infrastructure. We work closely with all local authorities to provide roading funding through the Funding Assistance Rates [Far],” the transport agency said.
A Far is the funding contribution, represented as a percentage, that NZTA makes to councils and other approved organisations for eligible projects and activities, recognising there are national and local benefits from investment in the network.
“As part of the development of each National Land Transport Programme, we review and set the Far for each local authority. For Hastings District, the Far rate is currently 53%; for Rangitīkei District, the Far rate is currently 66%,” NZTA said.
There is concern about damage and accidents if logging trucks return to the remote Napier-Taihape road. Photo / NZME
Watson said NZTA was likely focusing on roads of national significance before other highways, such as the Napier-Taihape Rd.
He estimated that if the council provided the funding for the road, it would cost about $3.5 million, meaning the council would be unable to do anything of any significance elsewhere on its network for the next two to three years.
“The scale of that would be horrific for us,” he said.
“The outcomes if all of those logs go back on road could be horrific for that road and you’d have to question whether, in terms of safety, we could operate that road successfully if substantial damage gets further done.”
At the meeting, councillors agreed the council could not be fully responsible for the costs of the road and that the ideal solution was for NZTA to contribute.
Deputy Mayor Dave Wilson suggested restricting the road’s weight limit but said that would require political attention.
