Increased spend on road repairs

Auckland residents are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the state of the roads and footpaths, despite increased investment from both local and central government.

Each quarter since September 2016, Auckland Transport (AT) has reported a steady drop in Aucklanders’ satisfaction levels around the quality of both roads and footpaths in the region.

However, between AT’s local funding and NZ Transport Agency’s (NZTA) funding more than $6 million extra has been spent on Auckland’s pavement and seal in 2016/17 than in 2015/16. A combined total of $122,432,301 has been allocated from AT and NZTA in 2016/17 for renewing and maintaining footpaths and resealing roads.

Torbay resident Jim O’Brien wrote on Neighbourly that one of the local roads has been in

‘‘The whole upper end of Glenvar Rd has been, and still is, a hodgepodge of potholes and repairs over at least 10 years.’’

varying states of disrepair for the last decade.

‘‘The whole upper end of Glenvar Rd has been, and still is, a hodgepodge of potholes and repairs over at least 10 years. Even back when it was the boundary of East Coast Bays and Rodney Council they could not work out who was going to pay for road repairs. Now it is under the ‘Super City’ it seems that repairs or whole upgrades have been relegated to back burner status.’’

Jude Larkin has contacted AT about the current state of the ‘‘potholed and neglected’’ Powrie St in Glenfield leading to the reserve and is awaiting a remedy.

Larkin is also concerned about the footpaths in Glenfield’s Peach Rd. ‘‘[It is] broken and uneven, some areas covered with slimy leachate. The footpaths alongside speed bump gardens in Peach Rd are hazardous as heavy runoff has washed away the soil and is undermining the footpath.’’

Sam Steers has also spotted footpath problems. ‘‘I have been on at the council for months regarding the state of the footpath in Tiri Tiri Rd, Birkdale, but have not had a answer ... they treat Birkdale / Beach Haven like a third world area and completely ignore it or just give it quick makeover ... we pay rates like everyone else so how about some value for our money,’’ Steers said.

AT gives the footpath network a routine inspection each year and from there footpath faults are identified for any maintenance required. Inspections are also done when AT are notified by members of the public or other authorities to possible issues.