Will Sealed Roads Become A Luxury In The South?

Tuesday, 28 January 2025, 9:23 pm
Article: Matthew Rosenberg - Local Democracy Reporter

Three Southland roads are at risk of reverting to gravel as the district council struggles to maintain its network amid funding issues.

A report prepared for a Wednesday meeting said Southland District Council had the second largest road network in the country with close to 5000km of roads.

But with a small ratepayer base - and unable to secure enough funding from the National Land Transport Plan - it was now having to make sacrifices.

That included reverting sections of three sealed roads back to gravel because it was not economical to maintain them.

The roads in question were Crooked Rd near Riversdale, Waterloo Rd near Mossburn and Wilanda Downs Rd near Ohai.

Crooked Rd had an issue with a 200m section which needed "significant investment" while more than 600m of Waterloo Rd was in disrepair.

At Wilanda Downs Rd, a 490m section was deemed to be in very poor condition.

The council said the lack of funding from the transport plan meant levels of service needed to be reduced, including not renewing sealed roads when they reached the end of their life.

"Previously, this reduction in level of service has largely been a theoretical impact if appropriate funding is not secured, however, this is now reality with three real life examples that require a decision," the report said.

It noted the cost of maintaining the 2000km of sealed roads in the district was unsustainable long-term unless there was more investment.

Roading continues to be a big topic in the south, with Southland Mayor Rob Scott penning a letter to then-Transport Minister Simeon Brown in October detailing problems the council faced maintaining the network.

One issue highlighted was a staff proposal to drop edge markings in an effort to save $1.2 million - a move that had safety implications.

Responding to Local Democracy Reporting at the time, Brown said no council had received a full allocation for its request to NZTA.

"There are always more bids for funding than there is money available."

Brown had been advised by NZTA that a funding request of $143m was received by Southland District Council, of which 87 percent had been funded.

Southland isn't the only region struggling to maintain its roads network due to a funding shortfall.

In October, Tasman District Council also expressed concern road safety and hazard mitigation work would go by the wayside amid a NZTA funding gap.

Ashburton District Council decided to use $2.46 million of ratepayer money to seal 50km of roads because of a funding shortfall, while Gisborne District Council has compiled a list of 86 sealed roads that it is struggling to maintain.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

© Scoop Media

Local Democracy Reporting

Content from the Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) service is published by Scoop as a registered New Zealand Media Outlet LDR Partner.