Mata Road, pictured in 2020, may be back to unsealed in some places. It is on a list of 86 sealed roads on the East Coast that could be changed to unsealed or chipped sealcoats.
Photo: Provided/ Gisborne District Council

Some of Gisborne’s tarmac roads will be switched to unsealed as the district council looks to save money.

As part of its three-year plan, Gisborne District Council has pledged to review its local road network covering 1899 kilometers to see where it needs to “build stronger roads” and “where to pull back”.

A councilor said problematic sealed roads were proving to be “bottomless pits” for funds due to constant repairs.

The council has drawn up a list of 86 sealed roads in Gisborne, rural areas and along the East Coast, which a report says have deteriorated to such an extent that it would be more beneficial either as a road or parts thereof to be unsealed. condition, or for a surface with a cost effective chip seal coating.

“The selected roads have several surface defects such as potholes and bumps, or the top seal layer has been removed,” the report said.

In 2018, council adopted a policy to resurface asphalt concrete roads to cover seal layers on Gisborne’s urban road network.

However, there is no existing policy to change sealed to unsealed roads and as this affects service levels, a new policy is required.

During Thursday’s operations committee meeting, councilors approved a report recommending council staff conduct service-level change meetings in affected areas until a policy is adopted. As he said, the Totangi (at Ngātapa), Russell (Ngātapa) and Armstrong (Whatatutu) roads could become unsafe if allowed to endure another winter.

Council has already held a meeting with the Ngātapa community regarding the first two roads.

Councilor Debbie Gregory said she was impressed with the service-level approach to the meeting.

“It’s definitely a sign of the times … the community appreciated knowing ahead of time what was going on. It was a good option for the situation, so it wasn’t all bad news.”

Earlier this year, a resident described the poor condition of Totangi Road Gisborne Herald: “He must crawl in and out of pits and craters, going round from left to right.”

Councilor Larry Foster referred to the changes as “a sign of good service”.

He had received feedback that the community was “over the moon” because their pits would no longer be there.

Road deterioration can be attributed to a number of factors, including earth movements that cause winter subsidence, increased heavy goods traffic and inadequate drainage.

In addition, inflation has reduced maintenance budgets, while multiple flooding events have accelerated the deterioration of underlying pavements, the council report said.

Councilor Teddy Thompson asked if Waingake Road, which was not on the list, would be returned to unsealed.

“We’ve put millions and millions into this road … and it keeps falling apart,” he said. “It’s a bottomless pit.”

Council Journeys infrastructure manager Dave Hadfield said the council was undergoing a level of service (LOS) review, which investigated Gisborne’s roads and access to utilities such as hospitals and mobile phone towers, which would inform the decisions.

“If we decide to put that road up, then there are other roads that we’re probably going to have to reset.”

The sealed to unsealed policy will not be developed until after the LOS review. Hadfield said the board hopes to complete the review by May or June.

Deputy Mayor Josh Wharehinga praised the community-led discussions.

“Hats off to the Ngātapa community for having a productive and robust discussion with us,” he said.

When people heard about changing back roads, people “automatically escalated”, but when people participated in the decision-making, then they could understand the reasons why, he said.

Wharehinga questioned the need for a policy.

Council for Sustainable Futures director Joanna Noble said the policy provides a “greater strategic context” for decision-making before moving to community-led conversations.

According to the report, resurfacing Totangi Road on an unsealed surface will cost $129,000 and Russell Road $89,000. Most of the costs are associated with drainage improvement and backfill aggregate.

A 2018 council report indicated that applying a chip seal coat to asphalt concrete roads could save about $8 million for every 22 km over the next 10 years.

However, not all roads are suitable for chip resurfacing, such as roundabouts, sharp curves and cul-de-sacs.

LDR is local journalism, co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.