The deteriorating state of roads – including some of our major state highways – has led Kiwis to take to social media pages to mark stretches with potholes, and vigilantes filling potholes themselves after some municipal road crews fail to do so.
On the east coast, the condition of state highway 35 – the connection between Gisborne and Ōpōtiki, which is beset by potholes, numerous wash-outs and patches of gravel – has been described as a “bloody disgrace”.
Transportation officials have launched the country’s largest road renewal program, telling the Herald that a previous “flatlining” of road maintenance funding had caused “a renewal backlog”.
During the work, more than 2,400 lane kilometers of state highways will be re-sealed or rebuilt from Cape Reinga to Bluff – more than 10 percent of New Zealand’s state highway network.
Concern over the situation — with two out of three Automobile Association members surveyed expressing dissatisfaction with road conditions — comes as the AA highlights what it believes is a $400 million repair shortfall during this administration’s term.
“Ahead of the last election, the AA developed something called our ‘election calls,’ which were essentially the key actions we’d like to see the next government take,” said AA road safety spokesman Dylan Thomsen.
“Improving road maintenance was the No. 1 election call we had for 2020. We had then identified that road conditions were deteriorating and this needed to be addressed.”
At that time, the AA’s calculations estimated that an additional $300 million was needed each year for road maintenance.
“And that was to catch up on work.”
Thomsen said Waka Kotahi spent all available money on road maintenance and repairs.
The government had contributed an additional $500 million for road repairs over the current three-year term, but that was $400 million less than what the AA said was needed.
Thomsen said many AA members were scathing about the state of some roads in the country.
“What we regularly hear from AA members is that these are the worst roads they can remember,” he said. “Many of our members have been members and riding in New Zealand for decades.”
Potholes were the most common complaint from motorists.
In October, dozens of motorists were stranded on the side of State Highway 2 through the Kaimai Ranges after suffering wheel and tire damage from a large pothole.
Act Party figures showed that Waka Kotahi had received 555 complaints from motorists about vehicle damage caused by potholes in the first 10 months of the year. Only four of those complaints were upheld.
The number of complaints had risen from 298 in 2020 to 421 in 2021.
In a statement, Waka Kotahi said potholes often appeared during heavy rainfall, “and we’re now seeing these events become more common due to climate change.”
But Thomsen said the impact of heavy rain only highlighted a lack of preventative road maintenance.
“The reason why so many potholes appear [is] not just because we’ve had a lot of rain, but [that does] certainly accelerates the problem,” he said.
“It’s the fact that we haven’t done preventative maintenance — especially on the highways — for several years now to keep them going through those heavier downpours.”
Waka Kotahi said water was the “primary cause” of potholes.
If there was a crack or a displaced rock on older surfaces, water could be trapped in the road surface.
“As vehicles drive over the pool of water, tires apply hydraulic pressure, forcing the water into the sidewalk,” a spokesman said. “Over time, as vehicles continue to drive over the pothole, it will grow larger as weakened areas break down.
“Road sections in need of renewal are often the hardest hit areas as the pavement and road surface are weaker and beginning to fail.”
After potholes, AA’s biggest complaint about the road network was the condition of road markings and signage, roadside vegetation that was not trimmed, and culverts and drains that were not cleaned regularly.
The latter can lead to flooding of the road surface, creating dangerous driving conditions and also accelerating the formation of potholes.
It’s certainly not just potholes that are infuriating residents in Gisborne and the East Coast over the condition of SH35.
The main road – in an area that has been ravaged by severe storms for the past three years – has subsidence, single-lane stretches and long-standing gravel patches.
The recovery of some weather damage caused last year has yet to begin.
Former Gisborne district councilor Bill Burdett, who resigned in the October election, described a section south of Ruatoria as a “bloody disgrace” and the slow progress in repairing damage closer to Ōpōtiki as “a joke” .
The state of the road had “an impact on the people on the coast, and that’s very unfair,” Burdett said.
Some East Coast residents even considered refusing to pay road taxes in protest.
Manu Caddy, a former Gisborne councillor, who regularly travels up and down SH35, acknowledged there was “anxiety” about the level of RUC paid by some locals, who subsequently faced what they believed was a ” poorly maintained highway.
“It’s fair to say there’s a lot of frustration,” Caddy said.
“The sense is that the bigger cities and bigger highways are getting more resources in other places.”
But in some cases, the frustration was “misdirected,” Caddy said.
The East Coast has been battered by massive storms in successive years, and given the region’s geology—including slopes that can easily slip—people had to realize “we’re going to be in a constant state of repair and maintenance.”
“It’s not like we’re going to get great roads without road works,” said Caddy. “Clearing the land has certainly not helped the erosion problems and it will.
“With extreme weather events becoming more frequent, costs will only increase. There are certainly some major challenges ahead, if not already. I think we will have extended periods of impassable roads.”
Speaking about road conditions in general, a Waka Kotahi spokesman said the organization made sure the state highways remained “safe” through inspection and “reactive maintenance processes laid out in every road maintenance contract.”
These processes ensured that age errors, such as rutting, were regularly recorded and repaired.
“This ensures that our national road network remains safe and accessible at all times,” said the spokesperson.
“The volume of highway renewal work has declined in the mid-2010s, in line with flat funding for road maintenance, and this has led to a backlog of renewals that we continue to work through with the additional funding we received for this in the National Land Transport Program 2021-24.
“We are committed to improving the overall condition of our state highway network, and the work people will see taking place over the next six months is testament to that commitment.”
Thomsen, from the AA, said he didn’t know enough about the SH35 situation to comment on that stretch of road.
But a common complaint the AA heard from rural people across the country was that they were “lacked short” when it came to the condition of some of their roads.
“What that shows to me is how there’s a psychological element to roads. The state of the roads in an area is like a shop window,” he said.
“If people drive around every day and see a lot of potholes and old, faded paint and signs that are past their sell-by date…then it is normal for them to feel that things are not going well in their area.”
Annual surveys of AA members showed a steady increase in “dissatisfaction” with road conditions.
In 2018, 55 percent said they were concerned about the quality of road services and the potholes in their area. That grew to 65 percent in 2020 and then to 68 percent in early 2022.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the number doesn’t go up even further [in 2023]said Thomas.
“Even at 68 percent, it means that essentially two out of three members we surveyed are not happy with the quality of the roads in their area. People are grumpy, frustrated and annoyed by it.
“New Zealanders have noticed and are not happy. They know the roads should be in better condition and they want something to happen.”
‘Be prepared’: summer of road works will cause delays
Road contractors have embarked on what has been described as New Zealand’s largest repair campaign.
And as Kiwis head out on summer trips across the country, a road safety expert has warned to plan ahead and be prepared for the trip to take longer than expected.
Waka Kotahi’s works cover more than 10 percent of the state highway network.
“In terms of scope, this is the most significant renewal program we have ever undertaken,” said a spokesman for Waka Kotahi.
“Our investment in the national maintenance program through the 2021-24 National Land Transport Program increases to $2.8 billion, including an estimated $300 million for emergency work. This is a 30 percent increase over the previous three years (2018 -21).”
Remediation work will be carried out across the country, with Waka Kotahi saying a “significant portion” will be carried out in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions.
Automobile Association road safety spokesman Dylan Thomsen said those taking road trips in the summer should be prepared for the delays that the necessary works would cause.
“I’m afraid to say it, but you will probably encounter more roadworks than you normally expected,” he said.
“And that means you’re likely to have some stop-gos at different times, and travel more slowly when work is in progress and a new chip seal is being applied.
“It’s going to mean you’re going to have to stop, slow down, and even take longer than you normally budgeted to get where you’re going.”
Thomsen also advised drivers to monitor the driving behavior of motorists ahead of them to avoid getting into the groove, as they could lead to damage to the vehicle or possibly an accident.
“It’s understandable to say that this is a major highway and it should be in better shape, but what we know now is that in many cases even our busiest and largest highways can have some serious and bad spots with potholes and damage,” he said.
“When I’m driving I try to look far down the road and look at other vehicles. I won’t be able to see a pothole 200 or 100 yards down the road, but if I see cars with brake lights on or turning left or moving right in the lane, that might give me a hint that there might be something ahead and be ready for that.