Spotlight on local roading issues after storms

New Zealand has seen one of its wettest Julys on record, with a ‘freight train of low pressure’ delivering seemingly endless days of rain.

While the wind and rain may have spoiled July school holidays for many families, it has also made it hard going on Central Hawke’s Bay’s 1200 kilometres of roads. As part of the big mop-up, Central Hawke’s Bay District Council is turning the spotlight on resolving roading issues across its entire network.

Rain is one of roading's worst enemies, penetrating and weakening a road's surface. Roading maintenance crews can’t repair potholes even on gravel roads while it’s raining, because the area needs to be dry to achieve a lasting repair. Many of the district's rural coastal roads also have ground conditions that are prone to slipping and movement in the wet, creating a perfect storm of roading issues - bumpy, degraded roads that can’t be repaired quickly enough.

“I know we’ve got work to do addressing issues across our entire roading network - from the shorter term issues of weather repairs, through to million dollar slip repairs. I want to give assurance to residents that we hear your voices, and we are listening,” says Doug Tate, Chief Executive of Central Hawke’s Bay District Council.

Mr Tate says that the roading network is the economic and social backbone of our community. For rural residents in particular, roads are critical to their way of life, and Council plans to further boost its current response in this area to address concerns.

“We intend to rise to the challenge of repairing a rain-damaged network, catching up on maintenance from weather events as well as preparing for future bad weather. We also want to keep the roading conversation with our community going so we hear about problems quickly, and can regularly update local road users on our progress.”

Mr Tate asks that the community continue to report local roading issues by phoning Council on 06 857 8060, emailing customerservice@chbdc.govt.nz or visiting a Council Service Centre.

Road users can also easily report issues using Snap Send Solve, a free GPS-based free app for smartphones. For more information about Snap Send Solve, visit www.chbdc.govt.nz/contact-us/snap-send-solve/

To report issues impacting travel on State Highway 2, please call Waka Kotahi on 0800 4 HIGHWAYS.

3 August 2022

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