Potholed highway criticised

Logging trucks and other traffic are dodging "man-made potholes" from sunken manhole covers along SH88 at Ravensbourne, as well as avoiding other problems along the highway to Port Chalmers. Photo: Linda Robertson

Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders was commenting on "man-made potholes" left behind after a section of State Highway 88 in Ravensbourne was resealed earlier this year.

The fresh tarmac was not flush with manhole covers along the route, making an already-bumpy ride worse for truck drivers and other motorists when their wheels dropped into the holes, he said.

Truck drivers had to be "quite careful" driving through the area and residents had already voiced concern at the work, which appeared "a bit substandard", he said.

"It would be nice to see them remedy that," Mr Winders said.

But it was not the only issue along the 12km highway, which links Dunedin's central city to Port Chalmers, for residents and freight traffic heading to the wharf.

The West Harbour community has also been waiting since mid-2016 for a promised $3million package of safety improvements along the highway.

Plans to extend the SH88 cycleway to Port Chalmers are still being reworked, six years after the last section to St Leonards was completed in 2012.

In the meantime, a recently resealed section of the highway, near Roseneath, melted during January's hot weather, and now again appears to be bald in places.

Mr Winders said he was concerned about the problems in Ravensbourne and the section of highway near Roseneath, which was in "not the best" condition.

"The quality of the road is pretty important to us, and making sure it's safe.

"Ultimately, the NZTA team [members] are in charge of that road. They have got the primary responsibility for design, safety and maintenance."

NZ Transport Agency network manager Graeme Hall said the "well used" highway was under increasing pressure and required constant maintenance, juggled with the demands of the cruise-ship season and other uses.

"There is a lot of co-ordination required on this road, from the port, the city and the community."

The manhole covers in Ravensbourne would be fixed within two months by the Dunedin City Council, which was responsible for them, he said.

NZTA contractors usually lifted covers to sit flush with any new road surface, but only if they were already flush with the old surface, he said.

Covers already out of alignment with the old surface, as was the case along the Ravensbourne section of SH88, could indicate larger problems underground, he said.

"They will be levelled up and we are working seamlessly with the DCC.

"It's not shoddy work. It's a programme of maintenance which each of us, working together, try ... to align."

Council 3 Waters group manager Tom Dyer said the covers could sink over time, but the recent resealing on SH88 had "exacerbated" the issue.

"We are now working with the NZ Transport Agency to find the most effective method and time to lift and re-level affected service covers, while minimising inconvenience to all road users."

Mr Hall said the other recently sealed section of SH88, near Roseneath, suffered "bitumen bleeding" in January and was being assessed to see whether repairs were needed.

He could not give an exact timeline for the $3 million package of safety improvements, announced in mid-2016 and originally earmarked for construction to start in 2017.

The aim was still to have some of the safety improvements under way before construction of the missing section of cycleway to Port Chalmers began later this year, he said.

However, the West Harbour Community Board had asked for some of the safety improvements not to be added until the cycleway was complete, fearing cyclists could otherwise be at greater risk on the highway.