Angst grows with road weeds
Waka Kotahi has come under renewed pressure to tackle the weeds growing in the roundabouts, traffic islands and median strips on the highway through Nelson.
The problem was raised at the inaugural meeting of the joint Nelson Tasman regional transport committee on Friday.
Waka Kotahi director of regional relationships Emma Speight said the transport agency was planning more maintenance on the State Highway 6 vegetation before Christmas while investigations had started into a more ‘‘long-term approach’’ that could include hard options such as concrete.
‘‘It is just basic, fundamental maintenance isn’t it?’’ said alternate committee member Nelson city councillor Mel Courtney. ‘‘Why has it got away on Waka Kotahi?’’
Speight said safety expectations had changed, with stricter requirements on contractors, particularly in higher-speed environments, ‘‘and that comes at a cost’’. ‘‘We do it at a much longer interval . . . because it is not costeffective,’’ she said.
When those costs were weighed up against other projects, ‘‘the spending will go on things that are essential’’.
The ‘‘aesthetic state’’ of the roundabouts and islands was not a safety risk for the travelling public, and therefore could not be prioritised over projects that were, Speight said.
However, committee member Nelson mayor Dr Nick Smith disagreed. ‘‘I don’t accept it is a nonsafety risk when I can’t see across to the traffic in another lane coming in the other direction.’’
Smith also queried the fire risk from the overgrowth. He asked how he should respond to a ratepayer living ‘‘not far from where your weeds that are over 2m high’’ grow. That ratepayer had been told by the council to mow a vacant section due to the fire risk it posed ‘‘when he can see a large area of dry grass immediately adjacent to vehicles that he would argue is a greater fire risk’’.
The mayor asked whether Waka Kotahi had to abide by the same laws around fire risk. Speight said maintenance work was planned before the vegetation dried out.
In relation to a long-term approach under consideration, Courtney said most people would not be happy with concrete.
Alternate committee member Tasman district councillor Jo Ellis suggested any hard option could incorporate local art.
Smith said he was open-minded about a solution, although concrete did not sound environmentally friendly.
‘‘If it was grass that could be mowed safely, that would be a preferred solution,’’ he said. ‘‘But the important thing is: We actually try and land a solution as quickly as possible on this.’’
Smith said a delegation had visited him saying they intended to knock down the weeds themselves and he promised to raise the matter at the committee meeting. Speight said Waka Kotahi was working on a solution, a decision on which would be made in the new year.
At the start of the meeting, Smith said two alternate members from each council on the committee would receive all reports and fully participate ‘‘with the exception of voting’’.