Ashburton District Council has approved an extra $300,000 to spend on roading maintenance over the next month, before winter weather arrives and impacts road repair work.

The money will come from forestry reserves and is part of a planned $2 million injection into the district’s roading repairs programme. Council will consult with the community as part of its Annual Plan 2022-23 consultation before using the other $1.7m.

Council’s roading maintenance contractor HEB owns a large road stabilising mill machine which has been working in the Selwyn district but is now available to come to Ashburton to join a smaller machine that has been operating here over the last few months.

These machines work like a large rotary hoe – milling the top layer of failed road pavement, adding cement to stabilise the milled material, then shaping and compacting the road surface with a few days drying required before chip sealing to complete the repair.

Infrastructure Services Group Manager Neil McCann said the unexpected access to the additional machine meant two stabilising crews would progress the Ashburton district’s stabilisation repairs much quicker.

“Stabilised repairs improve the top layer of the existing pavement and can be completed much faster than dig-out repairs. Stabilising these extra roads now also means that we don’t have to keep patching them over winter to stop them from deteriorating further and they will be in a safer condition,” he said.

“Some of the roads earmarked to be repaired using this additional machine include sections of Lismore Mayfield Road, Seafield Road and Beach Road East.”

He said the same milling treatment has been successfully used around the Ashburton District this year with 8,481m² of repairs already having been completed on 20 roads.

“Our contractor has been dealing to a good number of potholes already and this extra $300,000 will be put to good use to repair some of our roads earlier than planned.”