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.

Community, Council and Contractors met at the Rangitane Hall on Monday 2 May, to celebrate the completion of Phase 1 of Pouto Road sealing, and the start of safer journeys for the Pouto community.

Work is underway to implement new speed limits in the Mangawhai – Kaiwaka (including Hakaru) and Kaiwaka West (including Oneriri Road and Oruawharu Road) areas.

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.

Future-focused energies for the finish of February are helping set up Kaipara District Council for a busy time ahead.

Covid Omicron case numbers are increasing across New Zealand and in other parts of Northland but not in Kaipara District.

Kaipara District Council’s recently approved new speed limits for the Mangawhai, Kaiwaka and Hakaru areas, are expected to take effect within the next few months.

Although Kaipara’s dry weather has slowed work on the unsealed road network, the roading crews are still hard at work, completing some of the remaining associated improvement work, like drainage and vegetation control.

The Northland Transportation Alliance’s (NTA) Unsealed Road Improvement Project remains on track to approved project milestones with 84.4 km’s of the network’s road pavement layering completed to date. 

Two years ago last week the Government started its rollout of the first responses to the Covid-19 coronavirus. We’ve been living in a pandemic since then.

Pouto Road phase one and Waipoua River Road will be completed in April, despite delays caused by wet weather in the Kaipara District post the Christmas break.