Road upgrading held up by efficiency

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 524, 22 February 1994, Page 9

Road upgrading held up by efficiency

The Raapehu District Council is saving the national roads authority money by carrying out its district road maintenance at lower-than-average cost, so the council is asking for a share of some of those savings to spend on upgrading work. Ruapehu mayor Garrick Workman told fellow councillors at their February meeting that Transit New Zealand was "sympathetic" to Ruapehu' s case that very little money was being spent on road improvements in the district, but that the authority lacked available funding. "The Ruapehu District v/hose total pavement maintenance programmed expenditure per kilometre of road for the 1993/94 year was the second lowest in the North Island," he said in his report. He said the district was "a victim of its own efficiency as it was difficult to obtain good benefit/cost ratio for seal extensions." This means, because the cost of mainte-

nance (paid for or subsidised by TNZ) is low, the savings by extending seal on metal roads would be less than in other districts. He said it was heartening that TNZ had picked up the point of rewarding those authorities with efficient maintenance programmes. Mr Workman called for all councillors to lobby their members of Parliament for support for this issue. "Ratepayers need to realise that there is no funding available for upgrading without co-operation from all parties," said councillor Weston Kirton. Mr Workman said the council emphasised to TNZ the willingness of the district to help itself. "The council (does) not expect that improvements be solely funded by TNZ, and a series of public meetings was being proposed to canvass local rating or financial contribution."