Conroys Road to be Sealed

Fulton Hogan has won the contract to seal the remaining two unsealed portions of Conroys Road in Earnscleugh.

A total of five tenders were received with Fulton Hogan coming in with the lowest price of $420,000. This was twenty percent lower than the original estimated cost of the project, and reflects the current competitive nature of this industry. Councillor Graeme Bell, Chair of Council’s Roading Sub-committee said “This is a win-win situation for the district. We’ve managed to get the lowest price tender, using good local contactors and this will help keep local people employed.”

Preliminary work will start next week, with completion expected by Easter.

Council Roading Manager, Julie Muir is delighted the work is proceeding. “The topography of this road, combined with the traffic volumes and traditionally dry climate have meant this road has been a constant challenge to maintain to an acceptable level of service as a gravel road. The road requires weekly grading and at times it has been impossible to achieve without affecting grading in other parts of the District at certain times of the year.”

Addressing safety issues has been another reason for sealing this road. “With a number of loss-of-control crashes on the unsealed sections of Conroys Road, there will be a lot of people very happy to see this work being done,” said Ms Muir.

For Central Motorways who use this road as part of their school buses route are pleased to see some action being taken. Michael Harrison the General Manager said “Our vehicles have frequently had issues with the surface corrugations and the deteriorating road surface.”

An archaeological assessment was completed on the unsealed sections of the road, with approval received from Historic Places Trust to proceed with the work. One historic culvert at the top of the road will be retained, and the historic stacked stone wall on the existing sealed section will be maintained by Council.

This project will not receive government roading subsidy and is being completely funded by Council. Ms Muir explained that seal extensions are considered a low priority for funding in the national context, and funding is only available for these where we can demonstrate there are significant safety benefits.

While there have been a number of crashes on the gravel section, only nine crashes have been reported to Police in the last ten years. With the exception of a serious injury crash in 2002 involving a motorcyclist, crashes have been either no injury, or minor injury crashes. Minor and no injury crashes unfortunately cannot be used in the calculations to qualify for a government subsidy.”