Auckland's roadworks nightmare: 240 projects in one week across region

Wednesday, 20 June 2018

In one part of Auckland, residents cannot drive their cars home until road crews finish for the day and lay metal plates across the ditches furrowing the street.

Are roadworks near you causing you problems? Email us at newstips@stuff.co.nz

The roadworks in Opaheke Rd, Papakura, have been going on for nearly a month, and people's patience at having to temporarily park down neighbouring streets is wearing thin.

They feel their lives have been up-ended, and while they know the work is necessary – in this case, transnational Veolia is laying a new wastewater drain – they are fed up with what they say is a lack of communication about the extent and duration of the work.

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They are not alone. On any given day hundreds of Auckland roads are being torn up at the same time.

For the week ending June 17, Auckland Transport recorded 240 roadworks being carried out around the super city – some sprawling for kilometres down main roads.

Auckland Transport says the works range from minor patches to fill in potholes, to installing traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, cycleways or bus lanes, to building completely new roads for housing developments.

Among the most disruptive roadworks across the region are  Albert St in the CBD where work for the City Rail Link is underway, Franklin Rd in Ponsonby where water pipes, a cycleway and roundabout are going in, and Tamaki Drive where the Ngapipi intersection is undergoing a major revamp after repeated crashes.

Busy Bond St in Kingsland is undergoing work on its intersection to improve pedestrian safety and Dominion Rd's bus lanes are being extended. 

Opaheke Rd residents said they only found out about the wastewater drain work when the ditch diggers moved in, and a notification letter arrived a few days after the work started.

'There was no warning that was coming,' resident Belinda said. She did not want her last name used. 

The road has been reduced to one lane and a footpath is blocked off by fences and piles of earth.

However, the blocked driveways were of more concern.

Pensioner Jean, who also was hesitant to have her last name used, said finding out 'nobody had access in or out [of] my driveway was not acceptable'.

Jean said she was not in good health, and nobody would be able to get in or out if she had an emergency.

She recently had a shoulder operation, and was 'stressed out' worrying she might miss a medical appointment for a check-up if she could not be picked up. 

'I can't walk with my walker further than the letter box.'

After Jean phoned a number on the notification letter, metal plates were put across the hole in front of her house to allow temporary access.

The driveways are unblocked each night for residents to get their cars in and out, but they have to be moved early in the morning to prevent them from being blocked in.

The residents said they appreciated the work needed to be done, and the workers were 'decent, nice and helpful'.

However, the lack of communication had compounded the inconvenience, they said. 

Two crashes had occurred where the orange cones had made the road narrower, Belinda said.

A truck working on the project fell into the ditch the team dug, she said.

Veolia's Auckland regional manager Yolanda Oosthuizen said the Opaheke Rd project was an emergency job following a 'serious collapse' in the wastewater line.

Notification letters were distributed to all properties and surrounding areas 72 hours prior to the work commencing, she said.

The notification letter asked people to contact Veolia if they experienced any problems, Oosthuizen said.

'Veolia has not been made aware of any prolonged issues.'

An Auckland Transport spokesman said the amount of disruption roadworks caused depended on multiple factors, including the number of cars that used the road, whether the work could be done in sections, and whether there was a simple alternative route.

'All roadworks have to have a traffic management plan that addresses how drivers will be affected and what is being done to mitigate this.'