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wednesday 19 december 2018
Shirley on te reo journey
page 4
Page 18-19
cricket contender emerges
page 28
Neglected roads need millions Sara Hollyman Reporter
sara@nelsonweekly.co.nz
Nelson’s roads need almost $5 million to bring them up to scratch after decades of underinvestment from previous councils. The situation was laid bare in
council’s recent 2018-28 Transport Asset Management Plan (AMP) which identified a $4.7 million backlog in road surfacing. Council’s manager infrastructure Alec Louverdis, says although there is a large backlog, the roads aren’t in terrible condition.
“In terms of why we haven’t maintained our roads; our roads aren’t at the point where they’re going to fall apart, we’re not at a place where we’re going to drive and come across a massive pot hole.” The degradation came from exposure to UV light along with heavy traffic flows.
“Yes, we’ve underfunded some of our roads, but we’re closing that gap.” The plan states that “if council want to catch up and keep up” it needs to spend $4.7 million in 2018/19 and then $700,000 and $600,000 in the two years following.
Council has decided to spread the backlog out over the next 10 years, spending $1.17 million each year. Alec says a huge part of the issue is that they need better data on the state of the roads, which is not
SEE PAGE 2
SEVENS HEAVEN: The Tasman Mako men’s sevens team celebrate winning the national championship in Tauranga over the weekend with a ‘fins up’. The Mako women’s side also won some silverware, bringing home the bowl trophy. Full story on page 29.
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