Roading and Footpaths
Whanganui District Council provides a road network that has an all-weather surface with good skid resistance, visibility and smoothness. It is capable of carrying both light and heavy vehicles.
The council's roading network covers close to 1000 kilometres – 220 kilometres of urban roads, 615 kilometres of rural roads and 74 bridges.
Of the district's urban roads, 99% (219 kilometres) are sealed, while 51% (314 kilometres) of rural roads are sealed.
Most road maintenance is subsidised – 39% is paid for by our ratepayers and 61% comes from the New Zealand Transport Agency (a central government agency).
Urban roads are swept to keep litter and dust to specified minimum standards. Safety is maintained by traffic control/calming devices – for example, signs, islands, flush medians, traffic lights, edge markers. Most sealed roads more than 5 metres wide have markings to guide traffic, and are repainted regularly to ensure they are clearly visible.
Unsealed roads are maintained to the following standards:
- Potholes are repaired before they reach 50mm depth.
- Corrugations are repaired before they reach 25mm depth.
- Grading to standard cross section profiles of 5–7% camber.
The council provides road lighting, with brighter lighting on busy roads. Stormwater control is provided so that roads have limited ponding in all but large storms.
There are 20.6 kilometres of marked cycle lanes on busy and narrow roads, 8.8 kilometres of shared pathways (a dedicated pathway off the roadway for cyclists / walkers / scooters / skateboarders / mobility scooters) and eight service lanes (0.9 kilometres total) to give rear access to commercial properties in the central city.
Check out this awesome video of the Whanganui Alliance (a partnership between the council and Downer for roading infrastructure) completing crack sealing works on Portal Street to repair some areas where chip loss had occurred to the sealed surface.
Footpaths
There are 340km of footpaths in the Whanganui district.
Footpaths are important infrastructure asset for urban areas. They form the foundation of our public spaces. They make walking a safer and more convenient option for local trips, which are carried out in some form by almost all residents and visitors (particularly school pupils, public transport users, and the elderly).
Well-maintained footpaths are important for pedestrians’ convenience and safety. The ability to negotiate footpaths safely on foot, by wheelchair/mobility scooter, or with a stroller is an important aspect for those who use footpaths.
The council's Asset Management Plan recognises the life of each footpath design and location and provides for adequate funding for maintenance and renewal programmes.
Every three years the council conducts an inspection of footpath faults based on a standard set of criteria. Read the inspection guidelines.(PDF, 3MB)
Streetlights
Whanganui’s streetlights are turned on at night by Powerco sending a signal through the powerlines – this activates 40 switches which control streetlights in various areas of our district.
If streetlights are out, please fill out the report a problem form or call the council any time on our 24/7 number to report the issue: 06 349 0001. Our after-hours service will notify a contractor who will assess the problem.
If multiple streetlights are out in an area, it means the signal hasn’t come through properly due to an issue with relay equipment. In this case, our contractor will contact Powerco to ask them to resend the signal to switch the streetlights on.
If a single streetlight is out, it’s likely an issue with either council-owned or Powerco-owned equipment and the contractor will arrange for repairs to be made.