The Ashburton District Council administers the roads in the Ashburton district as the Road Controlling Authority (RCA). This requires that the council will manage the roading network to ensure that the roads provide adequate service to all parts of the district for all road users, which include local, regional and international travellers and commercial operations.
The road network is an essential part of the commercial infrastructure for the Ashburton district as the region’s main economic activity is primary produce for local and international markets and those industries set up to support these market producers. Other users are domestic users and tourists and motorists travelling through the district to places north and south of the Ashburton district.
The size of the roading network in the Ashburton district places it is the third largest roading network as managed by a territorial local authority. The network is made up as follows:
- Length of sealed roads 1,434 km
- Length of unsealed roads 1,184 km
In addition, there is 122 km of state highways (State Highway 1 – Rakaia River to Rangitata Rivers, and State Highway 77 – Ashburton to Methven to the Rakaia Gorge Bridge). These roads are administered by Transit New Zealand Ltd, and do not come under the jurisdiction of the Ashburton District Council. There is a high level of contact with Transit NZ Ltd to ensure continuity of service between the two networks given the large number of interfaces that occur where local roads and state highways meet.
The district council has a number of policies relating to the management of the district roading network as follows:
1. Policy for maintenance of Low Use Unsealed Roads and/or Unformed Roads
2. Guidelines/procedures for prioritising unsealed roads for sealing
3. Policy for installation of stock underpasses
4. Policy for supply and installation of road name signs
5. Policy for the use, design, location and supply of traffic signs and markings
6. Policy for the hanging of banners on street poles
7. Street development policy – grassed berms and street widths
8. Urban subdivision; beautification measures
9. Cattle/stock crossing roads code of practice
Copies of these codes of practice can be obtained from the council's operations division.
Funding the cost of operating, maintaining and improving the district roads comes from three main sources; rates (47%), Transfund New Zealand Ltd, which is the Government funding agency, (45%), petrol tax (2.5%), and miscellaneous sources make up the balance.
The large share of the funding from Transfund New Zealand Ltd requires that we manage the operation, maintenance and upgrade of roads in accordance with the National Roading Programme agreement between the District Council and Transfund New Zealand Ltd. This agreement sets out a wide range of factors that our road standards are required to conform to in order to obtain the funding assistance. This is regularly measured by condition ration of district roads.