Burn Cottage Road to be Sealed

The Roading Company has won the contract to seal the remaining unsealed portion of Burn Cottage Road at Lowburn.

A total of six tenders were received with The Roading Company coming in with the lowest price of $543,000.

Preliminary work will start this week, with completion expected by Christmas.

Current funding constraints make it likely that this could be the last seal extension happening in the Central Otago District for some time. With a likelihood of no seal extensions in Council’s roading programme for the next 3 years, sealing may only be able to be undertaken over short sections of road where there is a specific safety issue.

Councils Roading Manager Julie Muir said “While it may appear that once a road is sealed then Council’s future costs will reduce, unless traffic volumes average over 200 vehicles a day, or there are specific safety issues which will be addressed by sealing, then gravelling and grading remains the most cost effective option for providing rural roads. When roads are sealed they require resealing within five years, and then cyclic resealing at around a 14-20 year interval. Bitumen is an oil based product and as a result sealing and resealing is expensive.”

Neil Gillespie, Chair of the Cromwell Community Board, said “It’s great to see this project about to be completed. Back in 2003 some of the local residents contributed funding towards getting the existing sealed section done and it’s satisfying to their initiative resulting in the balance of the road being sealed. We’ve seen a few accidents on the gravel section over the years and in winter the shaded gully section caused road users much concern. The safety of the road will be greatly enhanced and the community will have a road that meets its needs.”