Road & Footpath Maintenance
Road and footpath maintenance is essential for ensuring safe and accessible transportation infrastructure. We work to address issues such as potholes, footpath damage, and effective traffic management.
Do you need to report damage to a footpath or road, including potholes and trip hazards, or a streetlight that's not working?
Use our online Report a Problem form to ask us for service.
Footpaths
Council policy is to ensure that there is a footpath on at least one side of every urban street. We maintain footpaths to minimise trip hazards and remove blockages, debris, and overgrown plants. If a footpath is in poor condition, we may programme it for renewal.
Footpath damage
Heavy vehicles and tree roots cause the most damage to footpaths. Ground movement from water saturation or earthquakes can also affect footpaths. Parking on footpaths and shared paths is illegal and can cause damage to the path.
Help us keep footpaths in good condition by reporting any faults or damages.
Potholes
We define a 'pothole' as any dip in the road surface, from as small as 25mm or as deep as 100mm. Most road users see a 100mm dip as a typical pothole.
Crews generally carry out pothole repairs under cyclic maintenance along with other minor maintenance activities, including clearing cesspit grates and removing detritus.
What causes potholes
- Long periods of rain can weaken road surfaces as water penetrates the road surface. The pressure from traffic can cause a small piece of the road to pop up, creating a dip. This is the most common cause of potholes
- Icy temperatures where water in the voids of the road surface freezes and expands, pushing up the road surface
- Utilities trenching works, such as those from residential construction projects, can create resealing joints. These joints let water seep through the surface, which softens the subsurface and weakens the seal membrane.
Severe rainfall events are becoming more frequent, so road damage will be more common during rainy winter months. This is also unfortunately the time of year when repairing road damage is harder because of weather conditions.
Reporting potholes
Help us keep on top of potholes by reporting damage to our roads. You can use our online report a problem form or call us on 07 348 4199.
Repairs are weather dependent and carried out by a Council contractor as soon as possible.
State highways
Waka Kotahi NZTA manages state highway maintenance. For urgent issues on state highways impacting safety, including potholes, call 0800 44 44 49.
Traffic signals
We have a monitoring process in place for identifying faults in the system. The traffic signal monitoring system automatically alerts the control room of faults, prompting immediate repairs.
You can also report a fault to us if you notice one. Please let us know your travel direction and the road names at the intersection.
Streetlights
LED streetlights illuminate Rotorua's local roads. We upgraded these streetlights to LED between 2020 and 2021, as LED lights are reliable, lasting on average 20 years. They also use a lot less power than traditional streetlights and are much better for the environment.
Moving or requesting a new streetlight
Streetlights must be evenly spaced along a road.
Please contact us to request a new streetlight on your road. You'll need to provide your address and explain why the road needs a streetlight. We will then look at your road and assess. Apart from some intersections, we do not install streetlights on rural roads.
To request to have a streetlight pole moved, for example if you are building a driveway, please contact us. Please include the location of the streetlight and the distance you would like it moved. You will need to arrange the relocation and pay the cost directly with our contractor.
Streetlight not working or damaged
When you report a fault, please let us know the nearest property address. You can report a faulty streetlight by:
Online: Report a Problem form
Phone: 07 348 4199 - open 24/7
Text: Send a TXT to 4343. In the text body enter the letters RLC, then a space before you add your comment.
Traffic counts
To manage our roading network, we deploy traffic counters to determine traffic volumes. These collect data to estimate annual averages and daily traffic for specific roads. This data helps with planning, road design and network improvements, as well as assessing road safety and past improvements.
We undertake roughly 150 counts per year throughout the district, based on road hierarchy and need.
How traffic counters work
- Surveyers set up the counter roadside, stretching two pneumatic tubes spaced 1m apart across the road. This allows software to calculate the speed of a vehicle
- As vehicles travels across the tubes, an air pulse travels down the tube. The software records the time it takes (in microseconds)
- The counter records the pulses from each vehicle wheel, and then software analyses the pattern of the air pulses.
The software works out the speed of a vehicle, how many axles a vehicle has and the distance between each axle. Each vehicle classifies based on how many axles it has and the space between them. For example, a truck with two semi-trailers or a private car.
We leave the counter set up to capture seven full days of data. We can then download, validate and summarise the data to report daily traffic volumes.
Traffic flow counts are variable, including:
- sensitivity of equipment
- counting methods
- congestion effects
- seasonal variations.
This traffic flow data is an approximate indication of traffic volumes. Apply judgement when using traffic flow data.
Other road maintenance
Line marking
Repetitive traffic movement wears out road line marking over time. We re-mark painted lines from time to time, depending on road type, traffic volumes and the type and purpose of the marking. We re-mark most streets within a 3-year period.
Street sweeping
Street sweeping is cleaning the kerb and channel that form the beginning of the road drainage system.
The frequency of sweeping varies, and we often do additional sweeps during leaf fall season.
| Road type | Frequency |
|---|---|
| CBD | Daily |
| Industrial streets | Fortnightly |
| Arterial and collector streets | Monthly |
| Local roads | Every 6 months |
You can help us by clearing leaves away from gutters and drains near your property, especially before heavy rain forecasts.
Resealing
Each year, we reseal about 6-8% of the roads in our district as part of our ongoing maintenance program. We do this to keep you safe on the roads and to keep our roads in good condition.
Some of this work will need traffic management, like stop/go signals and road or lane closures. To avoid excessive noise at night, we do most resealing work on weekdays. Sealing work requires the higher daytime temperatures to cure the reseal treatment. Where possible, we try to limit work around peak traffic periods.
We order roads needing resealing by age and road surface condition. These priorities may change according to new conditions and assessment information.
Residents and businesses along affected streets will receive a letter ahead of the work. We provide regular updates on major streets on our website, Council Facebook page and via traditional media.
Road Maintenance Standards
This standard sets out the maintenance regime for the Rotorua Lakes Council local roads. It also includes state highway facilities managed by the local roads contractor. This covers urban kerb and channel sweeping, traffic signals, and street lighting.
Read the document below for information on road maintenance, including classifications, inspection frequencies, response times and standards for sealed and unsealed roads.
