Bay of Plenty potholes: Waka Kotahi NZTA receives 33 complaints from drivers in 10 days

A Tauranga dad has shelled out hundreds of dollars on tyre repairs after hitting a pothole on Welcome Bay Rd, while a Te Puke resident fears the damage on her road could lead to a serious accident.

Their comments come after 33 complaints were made to Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency about potholes in the Bay of Plenty over 10 days - all requesting compensation for vehicle damage.

Michael Kelly said he drove over a “massive” pothole on Welcome Bay Rd earlier this month which “blew out” his car tyre - it cost him $280 to replace it.

“You couldn’t avoid it - it was right in the middle of the lane. Cars were coming the other way and it was full of water.”

“It was pretty nasty.”

The Welcome Bay resident said he made the call to drive home on a flat tyre as he lived nearby and had his two young children in the car.

The pothole, which Kelly first noticed about five weeks ago, had been repaired since heavy rainfall in early May.

But after about three days, Kelly said it was “already falling apart”.

“Surely we can fix our potholes better - you want a patch that is going to last longer than a week.”

Michael Kelly is a pothole victim after driving on Welcome Bay Road. 19 May 2023 The Bay of Plenty Times Photo / Alex Cairns

A Pāpāmoa woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she was driving to work at 5am on Wednesday, May 10 when she hit a “deep” pothole on State Highway 29A.

“It was dark, and I didn’t see the pothole, and next-minute: bang... I had to keep driving for a bit because it was just one lane. I was a bit too scared to stop on the highway while it was so dark.”

She had to pay about $200 to replace her tyre, saying it was “not worth” contacting her insurer due to the high excess.

The woman had complained to Waka Kotahi and hoped she would be reimbursed.

In her view, potholes were causing a lot of “destruction” to vehicles and costing people “a lot of money”.

The woman's tyre after she hit a "deep" pothole on SH29A.

Mary van Gog had lived on Te Puke’s No. 1 Rd for the past nine years.

She expressed concern over the number of potholes on the “dangerous” first two kilometres of the road and the speed at which some cars travel.

Van Gog said, in her view, conditions were “very unsafe” given the number of vehicles travelling on the road daily.

“People who live here have just had enough now.

“This bottom bit is particularly bad – it’s very unsafe. You get a dark, wet night, [and] you can’t see how dangerous the road is.”

Van Gog estimated there were between 20-30 potholes on No. 1 Road that had been repaired and about five that had not.

But large “hunks” of bitumen sometimes came out of potholes after heavy rainfall, she said.

Van Gog said the potholes had not caused any damage to her car. She put this down to her driving 30km/h on the section that had a 50km/h speed limit.

But this was not the case for all drivers, she said.

In her opinion: “Somebody will get killed, somebody will hit one of those lumps [when] they’re speeding and you know, come off the road or into oncoming traffic.”

Waka Kotahi received 28 complaints about potholes in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and five in the Western Bay of Plenty between May 8 and 17.

This compared to 10 complaints for the whole of April.

Trouble spots in the Western Bay included SH2 Te Puna, SH29 Lower Kaimai, SH29A Maungatapu, SH2 Hewletts Rd and areas around Mount Maunganui had pothole problems.

Waikato system manager Roger Brady told the Bay of Plenty Times all the complainants requested compensation.

Brady said drivers were expected to insure their vehicles and insurers should be their first point of contact when damage occurred.

Waka Kotahi assessed damage complaints on a “case-by-case basis”, he said.

“Waka Kotahi and our contractors investigate to see if there are any exceptional circumstances we should be aware of, which may trigger further actions by Waka Kotahi or our contractor.”

He said contractors could only repair potholes they knew about and encouraged the public to report potholes by calling 0800 4 HIGHWAYS.

Waka Kotahi regional manager of maintenance and operations Rob Campbell. Photo / Mead Norton

Regional manager of maintenance and operations Rob Campbell said Waka Kotahi and contractors only had liability if they knew about a pothole and “did not repair it within the contractual timeframe”.

Each state highway network had an inspection regime that saw “all areas of the network monitored routinely”.

“If a contractor inspects a network and finds a fault or a road user calls in to report a pothole, the contractor has 48 hours to repair it. If there is an urgent situation, the contractor needs to be on-site within an hour,” Campbell said.

Campbell said the “vast majority” of compensation requests were declined because the investigation process usually confirmed contractors had met contractual responsibilities.

Responding to concerns about potholes on SH29A, Campbell said repairs of potholes on this road were completed on the morning of May 10.

“As such, the Bay Link contractor has met its contractual obligations and is therefore not liable for any damage claim in this instance.”

Tauranga City Council director of transport Brendan Bisley said before the heavy rain in early May, the council managed to “reduce the potholes on the network down to single figures”.

The council had this month dealt with potholes in areas including Mount Maunganui, Pāpāmoa, Matua, Welcome Bay and Cambridge Rd.

Between May 8 and May 18, the council received 46 reports of potholes, Bisley said.

Bisley said contractors were “constantly” patrolling, identifying and repairing potholes to keep the city’s roads safe for users.

“Potholes can happen quickly during wet weather, so it is impossible to prevent them from occurring, but we do have additional resources available during periods of heavy rain to attend to potholes and clear blocked drains.”

It was “not usual” for the council to cover vehicle damage claims attributed to potholes, with Bisley saying each case was “considered on its merits”.

On Thursday, May 18, Western Bay of Plenty District Council received 22 reports of potholes following heavy rain – with multiple on Welcome Bay Rd, Waihī Beach Rd and Te Puke’s No. 1 and No. 3 roads.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council senior transportation engineer Calum McLean said these potholes were “among the list of roading issues” that had surfaced this month.

“We’ve experienced several bouts of heavy rain this year and know the widespread damage it can do to our roading network.”

The council’s team were working through the list of road repairs across the district but were “restricted” by time and available resources, McLean said.

“Our team work extremely hard to address all safety issues, but they can’t be everywhere at once.”

Motorists could report potholes to the council on 0800 WBOPDC (0800 926 732), he said.

Responding to van Gog’s comments, McLean said the council was taking complaints “seriously” and contractors would repair the potholes on No. 1 Rd “as soon as time and resources allow”.

“We have a long list of road repairs to work on, and with the current wet weather, our contractors are limited in what they can do. At the moment, we’re getting heavy rain showers causing problems faster than we can repair them, so we ask that people are careful and patient on our roads.”

“Potholes can be a serious hazard, but you can stay safe by driving slowly and carefully.”