Waiouru campaigns for Desert Rd improvements

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 600, 22 August 1995, Page 7

Waiouru campaigns for Desert Rd improvements

At the Waiouru Community Board Meeting held last week the recent closures of the Desert Road, including the nine and a half day record closure, were discussed. Concerned board members had requested a report from the Ruapehu District Council (RDC) on road closure procedures and this report was received by the board with the following recommendations: • That Transit New Zealand be requested to allocate more resources into keeping the Desert Road open before a closure became necessary. • That priority be given to opening the road as soon as practicably possible, and • That an information system be put in place to keep motorists informed of the Desert Road status. At the bottom of the report the Automobile Association road conditions number of 0900-33222 was listed. "I think it's laughable at the bottom to have the 0900 number," board member Murray Fitchett said. "One radio station says it's open, one says it's closed and you ring the AA (and) they say they don't know." "I'm not saying it doesn't need closing from time to time, I just wanted to know what they (Transit NZ contractors) do to keep the road open. When the Ministry of Works did it, the road was never closed for more than one day," he said, recalling driving over the Desert Road after a past closure and hearing grit hitting in the car. 'This last time I heard nothing," he said. "What' s brought this to a head is the 1 0-day closure. Ten days is too much. It hurt Waiouru and it hurt Turangi equally. I think the contractors are worried about the trucks. You only need one truck to go sideways and you have to evacuate 100 people," Mr Vine said. Transit NZ's possible road surface heating proposal was quickly supported. "We tried that for the Mountain Road, (to Turoa Skifield) DoC said no," RDC Roading Asset Manager Jim Moore said. He also said salt would not be considered.

The board discussed a recent truck accident where a load of steel had blocked the road for over ten hours. "That wouldn't happen on the Southern Motorway (Auckland)," board chairman Peter Pitts said, saying that an accident in Auckland would have received much more prompt attention. A representative from Transit NZ had been invited to attend the board meeting, but Mr Moore said the short time frame between the invitation and the date of the meeting had made this not possible. No members of the public or business community attended the meeting to express their views. Irirangi visibility A report on the intersection of Irirangi and State

Highway One (six kilometres South of Waiouru) was received by the board. The Board had requested in April that the Area Engineer South Don Satler inspect the intersection for adequate visibility to the South. Mr Satler' s report said that it has been proven by way of survey that visibility is adequate. Draft submissions Two submissions from the board for the 1995/96 Draft Annual Plan were accepted by RDC. These were: • that council approved $3000 of funding for 50 metres of footpath construction alongside Ruanui street out of the Separate Ward Rate, and • that council approved $9000 for the sealing of the Waiouru toilet parking area out of the General Rate. TURNTOPAGE8

Waiouru campaigns for Desert Rd improvements

TURN TO PAGE8 Cr Vine asked why three years ago 100 metres of footpath could be bought for $3000 and now the same amount of money only purchased 50 metres. The board recommended that council delete the words '50 metres' out of the submission and tender for '$3000 worth of footpath' in the hope that more than 50 metres could be obtained for that price. Drainage The drainage report was received by the board with the recommendation that the open railway drains ( at the end of Ngauruhoe street) be surveyed for inclusion in the report. "I don't think people know they exist," Cr Vine said. 'They should be checked so they're known." Progress report The progress report was received: • Work on the Waiouru public toilets is still incomplete. At present the contract is under dispute between the contractor and council. Mr Moore said the contract didn't ' show a lot of detail. He said work is not expected to begin again before October/November as it is too cold in the winter months. Around $38,000 has been spent on the toilets. • The Ngauruhoe Street West stormwater drain has been back filled with scoria and levelled off with topsoil. The area is to be raked and grassed over when the weather improves. • The remedial work to the Fulton Hogan contract for resealing of the service lanes in Waiouru will be left until spring.