The Tararua District’s reseals season is planned to kick off on Monday 17 November, and will run to March 2026 (subject to weather). We are chip sealing 90km of our road network over 39 roads across the district.

We are also rehabilitating – or rebuilding – sections of eight roads (Oringi Rd, Maharahara Rd, Laws Rd, Top Grass Rd, Weber Rd, Norsewood-Ormondville Rd, Matamau-Ormondville Rd and Takapau-Ormondville Rd).  This involves the comprehensive overhaul of existing roads, digging out worn-out sections, installing or renewing drainage, road shaping, compacting and sealing. The roading team will be doing the work under Stop/Go and road closures.

There’s been some interest nationally in chip seal lately, as regions around the country gear up for their annual road maintenance programmes. Like repainting a weather board house to protect the boards, chip seal resurfacing is a protective road surface treatment that extends the life of a road by keeping it watertight. We will have already done the pre-reseal repairs, or pre- paint prep in the weatherboards analogy, some time beforehand – sometimes up to a year prior.

Resealing improves road safety by adding texture and increasing traction. A thin layer of bitumen (a sticky black glue) is sprayed on the road and covered with small stones. Vehicles can drive through chip seal sites almost as soon as the chip is on the ground - this helps the chip bed into the glue.

We monitor the surface condition of all the districts roads and there are many factors that go into deciding which roads are sealed each year, from traffic volumes to surface wear and tear. Our target is to reseal 5% of the network each year. Roads in the reseal programme will be listed on the Tararua District Council website next week. This work will also be included in the weekly roading update on the Council’s Facebook page.