Keeping South Waikato Moving: A Year of Roading Improvements

Date:

7 Jul 2026, 12:00 am

Categories:

News

Over the last year, our Roading Team has been busy working to keep South Waikato moving. From repairing potholes and maintaining rural roads to delivering major rehabilitation projects and responding to severe weather events, a huge amount of work goes on behind the scenes to keep our roads safe, reliable and fit for purpose.

Here’s a snapshot of what the team has achieved over the last 12 months.

Our team spends 20 days a month on potholes alone

Each weekday, our Roading Team inspects roads across the district and identifies maintenance work that needs attention. This work includes repairing potholes, fixing road edge damage, and carrying out routine maintenance to keep our roads safe and in good condition.

Over the past year, the team spent an average of 20 days each month repairing potholes, repaired 635 metres of road edge damage, and replaced 680 square metres of footpath. They also completed shoulder maintenance on recently resealed roads and improved drainage and surface water channels.

Work also continued on our unsealed roads, with regular grading and metalling, helping to maintain access and improve driving conditions throughout the year.

We resealed 30km of road across South Waikato

A major focus was renewing and improving road surfaces across the district. Approximately 30km of road was resealed through a combination of chipseal and asphalt surfacing, helping protect the underlying pavement and improve ride quality.

Major rehabilitation projects were completed

Several key rehabilitation projects were completed, substantially improving sections of road that required more extensive reconstruction. These included:

Okoroire Road – 320 metres
Old Taupō Road North – 610 metres
Main Street – 135 metres
Waotu Road – 1 kilometre

Streetlights, road signs and bridge guard rails keep our community safe

When it comes to road safety, our Roading Team has continued to improve street lighting across the District by upgrading equipment and resolving faults. Streetlight renewals were completed on Balmoral Drive and Baird Road, including the replacement of ageing columns to improve reliability.

The team also maintained road signs and road markings, with reports from the community helping identify areas that need attention. Another priority has been putting variable speed limits in place outside schools to make it safe for tamariki and their whanau during drop-offs and pick-ups. This work is supported through funding from the New Zealand Transport Agency.

You also may have noticed new guard rails at Whakauru Stream Bridge on Paraonui Road, another safety improvement made by the team.

Responding to your requests and severe weather

Our Roading Team responded to a range of requests from the community as well as weather events throughout the year. This included clearing slips, removing fallen trees and responding to flooding incidents.

Our work extends beyond the road surface

Beyond the road surface, ongoing rural mowing and vegetation management has helped maintain visibility and safety across the network, with four mowing cycles and three chemical spraying programmes completed during the financial year.

Street sweeping has also continued across Tokoroa, Putāruru, and Tīrau, helping keep our town centres clean, tidy, and welcoming.

Every pothole repaired, road renewed and streetlight replaced contributes to a stronger transport network for our South Waikato, helping us stay connected, safe and moving.