Tauranga City Council is commencing this year's Resurfacing Programme, which will cover 60 roads and approximately 20km of road surface.

Works are expected to take six months, but are weather dependent, says a council spokesperson.

'Every year 4-5 per cent of all of council's roads are resurfaced with hot mix (asphalt) or chip seal; treatment with the latter is also known as resealing.

'These maintenance works ensure a safe surface for vehicles by providing texture and to protect the underlying road layers by waterproofing.

'Residents and/or businesses along roads that are scheduled for resurfacing, will be advised of works in advance.”

Hot mix versus chip seal

Asphalt is about five times more expensive than chip seal, says a council spokesperson.

'This resulted in a change to the Resurfacing Programme in 2011/2012; from then on existing ‘hot mix roads' on low volume local roads have been overlaid with the more cost-effective option of chip seal. Hot mix remained the standard surfacing material for main, high volume roads.

'However, following community concerns about the resealing of local ‘hot mix roads' with chip seal, Council has revised the Resurfacing Programme for 2019/2020.”

Consequently, roads that currently have a hot mix surface will not be resealed with chip seal this financial year while a review of the Resealing Policy is undertaken.

Roads that already have a chip seal surface will receive a new layer of the same material.

Funding of resurfacing

Council spends about $3 million each year on resurfacing roads. This is partly funded by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA).

This funding partnership requires us to adhere to NZTA's requirements for resealing roads.
For more information about the Resurfacing Programme, please visit:
www.tauranga.govt.nz/road-resurfacing