At Raglan Community Board’s meeting on Tuesday 13th Nov, community board members raised their concerns about the unsuitable reseal job in Bow St. On 30th October Waikato District Council contractors sprayed tar on Bow St and spread stone chips over it. By the end of first day areas of chip had come away from the seal leaving areas of tar exposed. Since then this has become progressively worse especially in parking bays where erosion from tyre friction was lifting large areas of chip.
Councilor Baddeley said he had specifically requested that the more expensive asphaltic cement surface be laid in Bow St. Council staff appear to have ignored his request and proceeded with the ‘low-cost’ option. Other Community Board members pointed out that tar was being tramped into shops and was also damaging clothing. They added that Council’s gardeing contractor had made the situation worse by spreading large amounts of bark in the street gardens. Rain had now washed this bark onto the road and into the areas of tar, leaving a mix of bark, tar and stone chips. They requested that Council fix the mess before the start of the holiday season. Councillor Smith, chair of Council’s roading committee said he would be looking into the problem with staff.
Absolutely dreadful surface in Bow Street and elsewhere ! We refuse to park in Bow Street and have sprinkled a lot of sand over our entrance in Goodare Road.Our garage floor car carpets and shoes are now covered in TAR…
Bow St is a mess. My brother, a civil engineer with extensive council and private consulting experience, was amazed that any Council would specify this type of chip seal in the main street of a town. The smooth type of seal they should have used is about three times the cost of chip seal. In any main street, the additional cost is justified. Hopefully WDC will fix the mess they have made soon!