Whangarei District Council (WDC) is asking Northland truck operators to cough up $132,000 to cover a shortfall for sealing dusty roads.
The district council has allocated $400,000 to seal ten 100m strips along Wright, McCardle, and Pipiwai Roads, west of Whangarei where truck generated dust has annoyed residents for more than a decade.
NZTA declined a $4.5 million funding request earlier this year, for a full 9km seal of Wrights Rd and McCardle Rd, according to the New Zealand Herald.
WDC roading manager Jeff Devine says the dust is a health and safety issue.
He says the traffic direction changed when the local port shifted from Whangarei to Marsden Point. The forest planting had occurred before the trucking route changed, creating the dusty issue.
Good faith contributions from the Forestry industry sealed some roads in the Far North District Council jurisdiction, an outcome that WDC hopes to achieve as well.
