Auckland has been swapping its potholes with roadwork signs, as work gets underway to improve the roads while the sun shines.
Dubbed the 'Summer Reno', Auckland Transport (AT) has been working on laying 60km of footpaths, strengthening 40km of unsealed roads, and resurfacing 400km of roads in Auckland. This work is expected to be completed during the summer season as resurfacing work, such as chip sealing, can only happen during summer when the weather is more dry and settled.
Auckland Transport's director of infrastructure and place Murray Burt joined AM on Thursday to give an update on the work so far.
"It's been a very wet and stormy 2023 and there's a bumper programme of road repairs underway fixing potholes," Burt said.
He said AT planned to fix 2000 storm-damaged sites and has completed around 75 percent. The remaining 500-odd sites are more complex and will take a little bit longer to repair, Burt added.
AT has also gotten halfway through its goal of 400km of road resurfacing.
"Because of the really wet and stormy weather last year, we've put a real focus on renovating the roads, getting rid of those potholes and making sure that Aucklanders can move around safely," Burt said.
"There's still a lot of work to go but we've made massive progress."
NZTA's largest-ever maintenance programme rolled out across NZ
It's not just Auckland roads getting a summer spruce up, with the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) rolling out its largest-ever maintenance programme across the country.
An NZTA spokesperson said in total over 2500km of road will be rebuilt or resealed over the current summer construction season, which is about 20 percent more than last summer's.
"For road users, this means that you will likely experience roadworks at some stage this summer, particularly if you are driving long distances during the peak of summer," the spokesperson said.
"Unfortunately, we can only build new roads during the warmer, drier months of the year, so we will be working hard at the same time as people are holidaying."
NZTA said every region has a full programme of work this summer, though particular focus is on the centre of the North Island, due to the impact of several weather events leading to ongoing recovery works, and the associated pause of renewal programmes in January and February this year.
Most of the renewal programme is expected to be completed by late-March 2024. However, NZTA said some crews will continue into the autumn months, particularly those completing asphalt works.
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