What we're doing and why
The Waikato District Council's alliance group plans, builds and maintains local roads. This
includes large and small roading projects which create new roads and improve existing ones; and general maintenance work on our existing roads and their surrounding features.
As well as the roads themselves, our roading network includes local roadsides, bridges and footpaths and all the land between property boundaries, the grass verge and the road shoulder. Together these areas form a 'transport corridor'.
We also ensure our local roads are well-connected with the state highways network, which is managed by the NZ Transport Agency, Providing safe, accessible, well-connected and
efficient roads contributes to the success of our district's economic development.
Planning and paying for it
Our road planning, design, building and maintenance work is paid for using a portion of ratepayer funding allocated towards this, plus funding from the National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) - the split of the total cost involved is close
to 50/50. The NLTP also provides funding towards road safety in our district and the provision of public and passenger transport (with our regional bus services managed by the Waikato Regional Council).
Our road strategy enables us to plan and carry out this work under the requirements of various government Acts and our own relevant plans, policies and bylaws.
Key links to strategies, plans, policies and bylaws relevant to managing roading and transport in our district are listed below. Key decisions are made by our roading planning team and the infrastructure committee meets regularly to discuss roads and transport as part of Council's wide-ranging infrastructure and facilities.
We also consider how roads and land and property development impact on our roading
network including in relation to our environment and services and
facilities such as wastewater, stormwater and water, other infrastructure and engineering standards relevant to the Waikato district. These activities may involve resource consents and/or building consents.
Roading projects
If you're developing property or a significant building project, it's a good idea to be aware of road projects in the immediate area and to consider how this might affect your project or vice versa. You may also need to know about resource consents
and/or building consents. Find out more in roads and land and property development.
Find out more about state highway projects and maintenance on the NZ Transport Agency's website.
Road maintenance
Our road, footpath and bridge maintenance work is ongoing and it follows a carefully planned programme of work which covers everything from everyday repairs of potholes, regular road resurfacing, maintaining roadside boundaries and ensuring 'transport
corridor' access for road users.
You may have noticed that road maintenance activities increase over the summer months. That's because good weather contributes to the efficiency and effectiveness of this work and helps the materials used for the repairs last longer.
We also carry out regular traffic counts on
local roads in the district to track trends in traffic volumes. Identifying high-use areas and any increases and/or decreases in the number of vehicles in these locations helps us plan our road strategy. It also assists us in identifying where
repairs or more significant improvements are needed as part of our road maintenance and improvement work.
Find out below about our general road maintenance, maintaining transport corridors and roadside boundaries.
See also rural roads, livestock and 'RAPID' numbers -
for information on these as well as 'paper' roads and unsealed roads.
General road maintenance
Our local road surface repairs, sealing work and drainage maintenance activities include:
- grading of unsealed roads
- adding metal to unsealed roads
- repairing potholes and digouts
- clearing of roadside shoulders and drains
- repairing and/or replacing kerb and channel and small culverts
- emergency works – attending to storm damage, flooding, slips and other hazards such as fallen trees.
Transport corridors
Transport corridors include all the land between property boundaries, grass verges and shoulders. Maintaining them improves road safety, helps with drainage and assists with safe traffic flow. It also gives communities and rural areas a tidy
and consistent appearance. It's also more cost-effective to carry out maintenance routinely, especially in activities such as mowing, weed control, street cleaning and litter collection, rather than respond to problems as they arise.
Transport corridor maintenance activities include:
- road signs and road markings
- street and amenity lighting
- verge maintenance (mowing, weed spraying, overhanging vegetation)
- street cleaning
- kerb sweeping and catchpit cleaning
- maintenance of railway/road level crossing warning devices.
Find out more about specific activities aimed at maintaining roadside boundaries.
This information will also tell you what you need to do if you are installing or altering a vehicle entranceway.
The Council currently has 200 kilometres of footpaths throughout the district. New footpaths are planned/have been installed in Raglan, Ngaruawahia, Taupiri, Whatawhata, Horotiu and Glen Afton in the 2014/15 financial year.
Much of the district's walking network is included in the road reserves (areas alongside the road) while other walkways continue into off-road areas or into our many parks and reserves.
When we're fixing existing footpaths and walkways, we also often repair or install kerbs, channels and associated drainage systems too if they're needed. As well as giving you another option on how you move around within the towns and small
communities in our district, well-connected and readily accessible footpaths and walkways helps encourage people to walk for health and/or leisure - or even to work if it's close by.