56 roads to get summer dust suppression

The Council has begun tendering contracts to deliver its dust suppression programme for the coming summer season.

Staff have identified 169 sections on 56 unsealed roads in the district that meet criteria used to decide which routes to apply dust suppressants to. Dust suppression compounds are a temporary solution for controlling road dust and are sprayed onto the road surface at the beginning of summer. The compounds bond with road dust but do not make the road surface slippery.

While significantly cheaper than tar sealing roads, dust suppression compounds have a short lifecycle of around three months, depending on traffic volumes and the impact of wet weather. Treated sections of road are not graded to prolong the life of the product.

Mayor John Carter says road dust is a significant summer problem along many unsealed roads in the Far North. “While dust suppression compounds are not a permanent solution, this is good news for families living along 56 of the district’s worst-affected roads.”

The roads were selected for the 2020/21 dust treatment based on how they ranked in a matrix developed by the Council. Matrix criteria include whether houses are within 25 metres of the road, the average light vehicle speed on the road being greater than 60kph, traffic volumes of more than 130 vehicles per 24 hours, and a heavy commercial vehicle component of 20 or greater per day.

Heavy vehicles, especially logging trucks, are a substantial contributor to road dust and Mayor Carter says the Council will again be working with forestry companies to co-fund the application of dust suppressants to some logging routes this summer. No decision has yet been made on which roads this will include. 

Roads to receive dust suppression and number of road sections for each.

	Road name	Number of road sections
1	Arawhata Road	6
2	Aurere Beach Road	2
3	Backriver Road	1
4	Bonnetts Road	1
5	Brass Road	3
6	Cable Bay Block Road	3
7	Diggers Valley Road	3
8	Gills Road	1
9	Hariru Road	1
10	Harris Road	1
11	Heath Road	1
12	Henare Road	2
13	Horeke Road	8
14	Jacentho Road	1
15	Koropewa Road	4
16	Ludbrooks Road	3
17	Mangatawa Road	2
18	Martin Road	1
19	Matawaia-Maromaku Road	10
20	Ninihi Road	1
21	Omanaia School Road	1
22	Orakau Road	1
23	Oromahoe Road	8
24	Otaha Road	4
25	Otangaroa Road	7
26	Otaua Road	5
27	Parapara Road	4
28	Parapara-Toatoa Road	6
29	Pawarenga Road	1
30	Peria Valley Road	1
31	Porotu Road	1
32	Pungaere Road	1
33	Purerua Road	1
34	Quarry Road	3
35	Rangi Point Road	1
36	Rawhiti Road	1
37	Redcliffs Road	2
38	Renwick Road	1
39	Ruapekapeka Road	7
40	Ruaroa Road	3
41	Spains Road	4
42	Te Ahu Road	6
43	Te Irenga Road	1
44	Te Tii Road Extension	1
45	Te Tio Road	6
46	Victoria Valley Road	1
47	Waihapa Road	1
48	Waima Valley Road	10
49	Waimanoni Road	8
50	Waimatenui / Mataraua Road	6
51	Waiomio Road	4
52	Weber Road	1
53	West Coast Road	3
54	Whakataha Road	1
55	WHAREPUNGA ROAD	1
56	Whatuwhiwhi Road	1
	Grand total	169