It’s been a tough day, especially for parts of Dargaville, with Awakino River and some of Ruawai now being evacuated. By 7pm, high tide, we expect to have evacuated everyone from areas we think are vulnerable.

On the final stretch of 2022, the team have been pushing hard to complete outstanding work before the end of the year. Work continues on both the unsealed and sealed networks in anticipation of the summer rush and the expected increase in traffic. 

With the continued improvements in weather, we are now full swing into unsealed and sealed pavement works. We have approximately 50kms of road to reseal in the 2022/23 season.

Our roading team made the most of the warmer, drier weather that came our way in September.

August brought a welcome reprieve from the wild weather and storm events of July. A total of 3,100 individual work items were completed throughout August.

Wild, wet and windy weather kept crews busy in July. A total of 3,358 individual work items were completed throughout the month. 

Maintenance activities have been widespread in June. During this typically wet period, there has been a focus on potholing, running metal and completing grading work.

In May, we saw some great progress happening across the district. Sealed pavement rehabs are now complete, and the unsealed network has received the last of the PGF/IRG funding. 

April’s relatively calm weather meant that Kaipara’s roading team could focus on jobs carrying over from previous months, and complete work on this year’s sealed pavement rehabs, unsealed heavy metal sites, and footpath kerb and channel renewals before the wet winter weather sets in.

There was a real sense of Groundhog Day in March, following on from Cyclone Dovi in February when the district was hit with a significant rain event. For Kaipara’s roading team, it was all hands-on deck with the clean-up.

Kaipara roading teams have been putting their time to good use during the dry season, preparing for autumn when the damper conditions enable new road pavement to be properly compacted.

Kaipara District Council’s externally funded Unsealed Road Improvements Project remains on track with a little over half the project completed. Northland Transport Alliance Maintenance Lead Bernard Petersen says this includes just over 70 kilometres of unsealed surfaces upgraded.