Leaders go to minister over potholes A last day at work to remember

The heads of Taranaki’s four councils have demanded action from the Minister of Transport to fix the ‘‘atrocious’’ condition of the region’s pothole-littered state highways.

In a letter from the Taranaki Mayoral Forum, New Plymouth mayor Neil Holdom, Stratford mayor Neil Volzke, South Taranaki mayor Phil Nixon and Taranaki Regional Council chairman David Mcleod seek a commitment from Michael Wood and

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency for major upgrades to SH3, SH45 and SH3A this summer.

‘‘These upgrades will cause disruption, but the net result should be positive,’’ the letter said, describing the current condition of Taranaki’s highways as ‘‘totally unacceptable’’.

‘‘We have been given a lot of excuses why these roads are in such poor condition; however, the fact remains that there has been a total lack of investment in the network over a considerable number of years.’’

The forum said it understood Waka Kotahi was ‘‘sweating its assets’’ [cutting costs and getting as much out of them as possible] nationally.

From 2015 to 2020, the average age of road seal across the country went from 6.86 to 7.96 years, the letter said, while average remaining seal life dropped from 2.18 years to 1.23.

‘‘We would like Waka Kotahi to advise the Taranaki statistics for seal age and seal life over the past decade and the approach to addressing these issues in the short, medium and long term.’’

The forum said local roads were being maintained to a ‘‘far higher level’’ than the state highways. ‘‘They are built on the same ‘volcanic soils’, out of the same materials and maintained through the same Covid-19 pandemic as our state highways.

‘‘To suggest that Covid-19 is to blame for some of the problems is inaccurate.’’

The leaders said recent rain and the poor condition of the roads had led to ‘‘unprecedented amounts of potholes’’, especially on SH3.

Multitudes of vehicles, including those of the emergency services, had sustained tyre, multi-wheel and suspension damage. ‘‘ One police car lost two wheels and had a further flat tyre in just one incident.

‘‘There was also tyre damage to an ambulance which resulted in the vehicle hitting debris and tearing off a bumper.’’

The forum added: ‘‘We acknowledge that we had some of our highways upgraded last summer but the amount of work undertaken has fallen far short of what is needed.

‘‘We are told there are further upgrades this coming summer but unless these are very extensive we will still be experiencing sub-standard and dangerous roads next winter.’’

Last week, Holdom cited Waka Kotahi’s own figures when he claimed millions of dollars raised in the region through road user charges and fuel taxes had been spent elsewhere.

He said Taranaki’s contribution to Waka Kotahi over a period of four years averaged 3% of the New Zealand total, but ‘‘little more than 1%’’ was spent here.