Lincoln Rd, Carterton. PHOTO/KAREN COLTMAN
KAREN COLTMAN
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Carterton’s Lincoln Rd residents Sue Keene and Evan Hoy put a sign up on their road protesting the poor state of it because they felt it was “the worst road in the world”.
And it won’t be until 2021 that they see any major improvement.
The sign said, “Dunedin has the second steepest street in the world. Carterton has the worst road in the world. Your [sic] on it.”
Sue Keene is a paramedic on varying shifts.
She said the road was so uneven that the trucks “bang over the bumps as they go past often waking me up”.
“At 70kmh, this is too fast for the condition the road is in, it is dangerous.”
She said until the road was improved, the speed should drop down from 70km to 50kmh.
“There are more residents on this street now and if council ever does smooth it out, the road will attract more traffic so I think the speed should stay at 50kmh.
“We pay enough rates to have this bumpy road sorted out. I don’t like driving the ambulance down the road at all.
“Even the lime footpath they have done is uneven.”
Carterton District Council infrastructure and services manager Dave Gittings said on Monday that the council was not concerned with the safety of the road.
“We are satisfied with the safety of the road and we have had positive feedback on the new lime path we constructed which makes the road much safer for pedestrians to walk down.”
A letter from the council on December 10 to residents stated it was not resealing the road from the seal joint south of Victoria St to Brooklyn Rd until February 2021.
Sue and Evan said it was laughable that the council wasn’t going to sort out the road until then.
Johnny Robinson, the owner of Dirty Worx Truck and Digger Hire, advertises his company at the same corner as the sign.
“It’s about time the council woke up about this, what you get for your rates is just not good enough,” he said.
“I mean the tip is hardly ever open and then only for a few hours, residents are getting sick of this.
“Lincoln Rd has been in a poor state for years and recent work had made it worse.”
According to the 2018 Taxpayers’ Union Ratepayers’ Report, Carterton has the highest average residential rates [$2847] of any of the 23 rural districts in the country.
“We acknowledge the condition of the road wasn’t ideal while we were undertaking the 900 metres of sewer renewal to replace an ageing pipe,” Gittings said.
“We appreciate the patience of our Lincoln Rd residents while this important work takes place and we will continue to keep them informed as the programme rolls out.
“The portion of the road where remedial resurfacing has already been done still needs some final work.
“We will be programming this further work later this year.”
come on carterton districts council do the job from start to finish..not half pie…i go down that road a lot and my gran kids haue to uses their bike down that bit of road they cant ride on road because the cars are going to fast for the condition of the road so they haue to uses the footpath ..dave gittings how can you say your not concerned about the road and footpath haue you got your head so far up in the sky.,,, that you cant see how dangerous it is for kids on bikes ..please just finish the road and footpath.and hear what the ratepayers are asking.do what your meant to be doing for the carterton residential just do your job..is that so hard to ask………