Tarseal on SH1 Dome Valley stretch peels less than a week after repairs

Motorists north of Auckland are once again coming to a grinding halt ahead of the busy holiday period as tarseal on State Highway 1 peels less than a week after repairs for the same issue.

Roads across the country have been plagued with issues recently, with asphalt on SH3 peeling this week, and the soon-to-be-opened Peka Peka to Ōtaki expressway addition to Transmission Gully and Mackays to Peka Peka expressway also hitting speed bumps during construction.

The string of new motorways near Wellington had a turbulent beginning, with all having to be ripped up for repairs either before they opened or just a few months afterwards.

The Mackays to Peka Peka expressway began leaking within months, with moisture breaching a seal between the road’s base and asphalt causing discolouration and surface issues.

Work underway to remove and replace asphalt near the southern end of the Peka Peka to Ōtaki expressway in August. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Independent inspection reports showed the road was plagued by flawed chipseal and water seeping through the road’s surface before it even opened.

The Peka Peka to Ōtaki road developed problematic pockets of air, meaning thousands of tonnes of asphalt have already had to be ripped up ahead of opening.

Video taken by motorist Sarah Primrose shows a section of SH1 at Dome Valley where wet tarseal is lifting and littering the road again, throwing up stones at passing vehicles.

This comes after work to repair the highway, where vehicles were damaged and left with tar sticking to tyres, was almost complete by Tuesday. More than 50 people contacted the roading contractor for compensation.

“F***, it’s happening again,” Primrose told the Herald.

Motorists heading south into Auckland on SH1 near Dome Valley last weekend had to pull over to try to remove the sticky tarseal. Photo / Supplied

Primrose was journeying home from her grocery shop in Warkworth when she encountered cars swerving to avoid problem spots and throwing sticky stones across the road.

She said she had driven to the shop at midday and “it wasn’t [as] bad” as when she drove home. While she said the weather was hot she couldn’t understand why this issue continued to plague the highway.

“It’s just disappointing because we’ve had all the locals in the area - and you know, it is a state highway - expecting the road to be fixed and it’s not,” she said.

“Especially the week before Christmas, there are already lots of boats, caravans and [other traffic] using the road.”

A Taranaki woman described watching SH3′s tarseal bleed and peel away as vehicles drove over it on a stretch of road between Inglewood and Midhurst which had issues in the past.

Motorists heading south into Auckland on SH1 near Dome Valley were troubled with a bad section of road peeling off. Photo / Supplied

She told the Herald SH3 had been resealed about three times in the past six months.

“I’ve never seen something like it before, the tar was just sticking to the tyres and I was a bit worried I’d have to take my car through a car wash. My tyres picked up a fair amount of tar.”

Traffic was brought to a standstill on Sunday when the newly laid section of road at Dome Valley began peeling and sticking to tyres. A motorist travelling to Whāngarei from Auckland said the seal was still wet the next morning and people had to drive at a reduced speed.

Fulton Hogan said at the time it was completing an asphalt overlay over a portion of the chip-sealed section of the road. The overlay should be completed by December 15, it said.

“The asphalt crew worked through last night and have completed asphalting of all but a few metres of the area, which will be completed tonight [Tuesday],” the company said.

Motorists pulled over to the side of the highway to avoid the peeling tarseal at Dome Valley. Photo / Supplied

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency scheduled night closures for Monday and Tuesday nights for maintenance and there would be one additional night closure on Wednesday night for final line marking, a Fulton Hogan spokesperson said.

Fulton Hogan apologised to motorists for the initial issues and the transport agency said the recent resealing work near Frogpool Farm in Dome Valley fell “short of expectations”.

New Zealand Automobile Association motoring services adviser Allister Wade urged motorists to get their vehicles checked to keep the costs of repair minimum.

The company said it was working with motorists whose cars were directly affected by the road surface at the weekend.

Fulton Hogan has been approached for comment about these newest issues.