Recent rain does not seem to have held up our four-month road resealing programme, which has about a month to run.

The work is traditionally done at this time of the year because summer usually means less rain. Usually.

As we know, there has been nothing usual about these past two years, which have included the omnipresent covid and a major rain-and-flood event at the end of last May.

The majority of road repairs caused by that rain have been completed. Routine sealed pavement maintenance has continued, with pothole repairs on the sealed network being a main focus – we are trying to hold those areas in need of more work until funding allows a more permanent repair or rehabilitation.

The sealed resurfacing programme that started in December has gone largely to plan. This takes up the largest part of our roading budget and we planned to reseal about 75km this summer. That work included 8.4km on Maronan Ealing Road, 6.9km on Mitcham Road and 5.5km on Ashburton Gorge Road.

Part of our annual road renewal programme is waterproofing to protect the underlying road and improve surface texture.

The idea is to keep water from penetrating and weakening the roading base. Too much water remaining on the surface and base combines with traffic action to cause potholes, cracks and pavement failure.

To reduce water damage, we aim to make sure we have a good drainage system.

Our programme of works for unsealed (gravel) roads has recently been loaded onto our website and you can see what is planned in your neighbourhood.

We are planning to spend about $1.1m between March and June on a number of roads, and put on about 50,000 cubic metres of gravel.