Dust problem not being swept under the rug

Long dry spells of weather bring pleasure for many but for those living on or near metal roads the inevitable dust problems tend to negate any pluses, and usually results in serious questions to the Kaipara District Council on sealing and general road maintenance.

There are two major issues with roading in Kaipara.

The first is in regard to the population distribution. Metal roads are a fact of life in Northland. Kaipara has over 1,100 kilometres of metal roads and, in outlying areas, a very sparse population.

The second issue is money. The New Zealand Transport Association ceased funding seal extensions in 2001. This means any new seal must be paid by for ratepayers and with a sparse rural population this is simply not viable given it costs $400,000 per kilometre to seal a metal road.

Council also stopped funding seal extensions at this time from rates revenue due to the prohibitive costs to ratepayers. Any seal extensions being done are due to third party funding, ie development or other financial contributions.

Kaipara District Council is duty-bound to maintain existing sealed roads and that is what it is doing despite the fact that some residents perceive this work to be not necessary. Roads sealed as far back as the 1960s are now showing signs of deterioration and with increased traffic numbers plus heavy traffic, are in need of rehabilitation.

Future traffic numbers are likey to increase both in number and weight as forestry harvesting over the next 25 years takes effect bringing even greater pressure to road surfaces.

Though dust suppressants have been tested in some areas they have proved to be only a short-term fix and not cost-effective in the longer term.

Some property buyers do not realise the implications of living on a metal road, especially those who come from the City to a country environment. Building on the back of a plot of land rather than on the road frontage and planting windbreak trees may alleviate the problem to some degree but will not eradicate the problem completely.

“Due to costs, unsealed roads will remain the main part of the Kaipara network for the foreseeable future,” says KDC acting chief executive Jill McPherson. “However we acknowledge we can do better in the area of road maintenance.

“We recently adopted a new strategy and a new field officer will soon be appointed to monitor contractor performance and implement an achieveable plan in metal road management.”