Auckland Transport’s pothole promise to Aucklanders Auckland Transport’s pothole promise to Aucklanders
Date: 31 October 2024
Auckland Transport (AT) is making a pothole promise to keep the city moving and reaffirm its commitment to fixing one of the most troublesome and talked about problems on Auckland’s roads.
The promise, which includes a new 24 hour response time, has been welcomed by Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown.
“This is an excellent initiative. I am totally behind the ‘pothole promise’ and I hope AT can deliver it.
“I encourage Aucklanders to be proactive about reporting potholes and also reporting any cases where it has taken longer to get them fixed than promised,” he says.
Auckland Transport’s Group Manager for Road Asset Maintenance and Renewals, Alan Wallace says we are committed to repairing potholes on Auckland’s road network.
“This year, so far our contractors have repaired more than 3,600 potholes across the Auckland region on behalf of AT.
“The pothole promise is to repair 95% of potholes within 24 hours of notification on our busiest roads, which is the same target the NZ Transport Agency recently committed to meet on state highways,” he says.
The 24 hour response time applies to AT’s arterial and regional road network – the main traffic routes – which comprise 1,400 km of sealed roads across the Auckland region, most of which carry more than 10,000 vehicles per day.
On all other sealed roads potholes will be repaired within five working days. It is not possible to have a 24 hour response time on all sealed roads due to the sheer size of the Auckland road network which has more than 7,000 km of sealed roads.
Potholes occur when water penetrates the underlying road pavement through cracks in the road surface. The finer materials are then pumped to the surface under traffic loading and the pavement loses its strength, resulting in a hole forming.
“New Zealand roads are mainly constructed of granular pavements with a thin layer of bitumen on top to keep the water out. Our relatively high rainfall means they are vulnerable to potholing if the road surface is not kept waterproof. That is why we periodically resurface roads, with the best time to do this before they start to show distress,” Mr Wallace says.
Constrained investment on road maintenance and an increase in traffic loading over the last 10 years has taken its toll on our roads.
“Potholes are a symptom of more complex challenges which are an aging network and a backlog of resurfacing due to funding constraints, making our roads vulnerable to the effects of weather. We can temporarily fix a pothole and make the road safe but if the underlying problem of the loss of waterproofing is not addressed they are likely to recur and grow into bigger problems.”
“We have received an increased level of funding for road maintenance from the NZ Transport Agency and Auckland Council which is a great start. It will mean we can halt the deterioration in the road network and improve levels of service for everyone who uses our roads,” Mr Wallace says.
Last year AT resealed 400 kms of road in its Summer Road Reno campaign and over the next three years this will increase to over 500 km per annum.
From the time the location of a pothole is reported and received by Auckland Transport, potholes on high-volume regional and arterial roads will be fixed within 24 hours. Other sealed roads will be repaired within five working days.
“We’re encouraging everyone to report the exact location of potholes so we can get our crews there to repair them.
“Help us keep our roads safe by reporting potholes when you see them,” Mr Wallace says.
To report a pothole, please visit at.govt.nz/potholepromise