Potholes cause drama for several Tauranga motorists

Potholes have opened up on a recently sealed stretch of Te Puna Station Rd. Photo / Andrew Warner

Several motorists suffered flat tyres on their vehicles after hitting potholes which opened up on Maunganui Rd due to bad weather on Thursday night.

Between 6.52pm and 7.08pm on Thursday, three reports had been made to the police of people getting flat tyres and needing to pull over after hitting potholes on Maunganui Rd.

The first call at 6.52pm indicated there were three vehicles left with flat tyres, and the other two calls put the number at up to six vehicles, a police spokeswoman said.

There was no indication the road was blocked or whether police attended, but the NZ Transport Agency was notified.

NZTA has been approached for comment.

Motorists took to Facebook pages to complain about the Maunganui Rd pothole.

One person said six cars had pulled over, each with a flat tyre.

A woman said two tyres were blown on her partner's vehicle and he had counted nine cars doing the same.

Damage to roads was also reported elsewhere in Tauranga and the Western Bay.

A recently reopened stretch of Te Puna Station Rd needs resealing after big potholes opened up.

The road reopened on Monday after being closed for several months while the road was resealed and a cycleway was constructed.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council roading engineer Stuart Harvey said due to the time of year and location of the affected stretch of road, it had been permanently shaded during the day.

"This caused high saturation levels before it was resealed," Harvey said.

"[The] council's roading contractor WestLink had few alternative options available for this time of the year - the only other option would have been to close the whole road long-term until warmer drier weather comes around in a few months' time.

"WestLink has confirmed that they will start work on remediation as soon as the current wet weather event clears and some dry ground conditions prevail."

Big potholes on Te Puna Station Rd near State Highway 2. Photo / Andrew Warner

Harvey said remediation work could start over the weekend or early next week with sealing near the end of next week but the timing was dependant on the weather.

Tauranga City Council's maintenance crews were out repairing several potholes yesterday on a number of roads around the city.

Ewa Wolf, the council's transport group communication advisor, said the council's roading maintenance contractor spent Thursday clearing cesspits in areas of the city with a high risk of flooding.

"Our maintenance crews were out filling and repairing potholes on Oropi Rd, Links Ave, Gloucester Rd and Truman Lane yesterday,"she said.

Wolf said the council also received reports of potholes on Elizabeth St and the Totara St/ Hull Rd intersection and one complaint about a pothole on Ōropi Rd.

She said the maintenance crews also managed to find a gap in the weather to fill those potholes yesterday. Wolf said there were no reports to the council from people complaining about potholes on Maunganui Rd near Bayfair.

There were no road closures due to flooding in the city yesterday.

However, due to major slip and flooding the Waimana Gorge on SH2 is closed until further notice, according to the NZTA website.

State Highway 2 near Taneatua between Rewatu and Taneatua Rds is also closed due to severe flooding of the Whakatāne River.