Northland politicians are dismayed over the state of the region’s rural roads, with repairs potentially decades away under current funding models.
The region has been hit hard by persistent bad weather in the last year, including heavy rain which closed Mangamuka Gorge in August 2022, extreme flooding in January and Cyclone Gabrielle in February.
Te Tai Tokerau needs $185.5 million spent on its roads, according to the Northland Transportation Alliance – which includes all Northland councils and the state highway network overseen by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.
In total, there are more than 1100 slips to be fixed, including 300 under slips where the structure of the road has fallen away. Normally, 10-15 under slips are repaired each year.
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At the current funding rate of $928,000 a year, repairs and maintenance to drainage – which helps prevent further slips in heavy rain – will take 65 years across Northland’s local roads.
The fragility of the network was highlighted this week with the closure of Northland’s lifeline to Auckland – with State Highway 1 closed at Dome Valley for at least four days due to a rockfall.
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State Highway 1 at Dome Valley, north Auckland, remains closed by a slip on Thursday – cutting Northland’s main lifeline with the rest of the country.
That closure is a week after the $1b Puhoi to Warkworth motorway extension opened.
Whangārei mayor Vince Cocurullo said the situation feels a bit like one step forward, two steps back.
Repairs on the highway at Dome Valley and Brynderwyn Hills are piecemeal, instead of a proper repair being done, he said, with each day of closure costing at least $1 million to Northland’s economy, he estimated.
“We’ve got to get four-laning done – we need it done now, not in 10 years’ time,” Cocurullo said.
As well as the highways – which are central government funded – Northland’s local roads are also badly damaged.
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Whangārei mayor Vince Cocurullo says more funding is needed now to fix Northland’s lifelines. (File photo)
In Whangārei, the government has agreed to fund 93% of repair costs but the Whangārei District Council had to increase rates by 2.5% to meet its share, Cocurullo said.
“These are roads like Whangārei Heads Rd, Maungakaramea Rd – their main routes and they’ve got some seriously big slips on them, taking up half the road.”
Roading contractors are also increasing capacity to help meet demand, Cocurullo said.
In the Far North, where there’s 2300km of rural roads, it would take 181 years to do the required drainage work at current funding models, said Far North District Councillor Ann Court.
Jaymin McGuire/Stuff
While slips are a problem, repairs to drainage could help prevent them, councillors say. This slip on Whangārei Heads Rd first occurred during Cyclone Gabrielle and has continued to slip.
“It would take 181 years to get ahead of our infrastructure deficit in the drainage space… 181 years to get around the network and do the work that is required or else we ask our ratepayers to 100% fund everything.”
Court said part of the problem was the National Land Transport Fund also being used to fund KiwiRail, cycleways and walkways, alongside the road network.
The Northland Transportation Alliance has asked central government for a one-off $25m fund to invest in drainage improvements, but is waiting for a response.
It has also asked for $17m for emergency works, $36m over three years to repair 10% of its historic slips and $107.5m to improve two primary detour routes used when SH1 is closed at Brynderwyn Hill.
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Northland Regional Councillor and chairman of the Northland Regional Transport Committee, Joe Carr, says he wants more flexibility in road funding, so Northland contractors can do drainage repairs. (File photo)
After Cyclone Gabrielle, the government funded an immediate $250m for road repairs and a further $275m in Budget 2023 – although this funding is to be shared between affected regions.
Northland Regional Transport Committee chairman Joe Carr said part of the problem was the lack of funding available for preventative work, such as drainage repairs.
“It’s very important to keep that road high and dry. Roading repairs 101 is drainage.”
Without the drainage being funded, a total network failure in Northland is predicted, he said.
“This is what I call a slow train crash where you can see the train coming down the tracks. The public has been looking at the signs – like the general road failure – and nothing has been done about it.”
Carr wants to see more flexibility with road repair contracts, so contractors are incentivised to invest in the roads and repair the drains.
He fears centralisation with the Northland Transportation Alliance has led to worse roads outside of the alliance’s centre in Whangārei.
