If there’s one thing we’d love to tell all of our valued clients as they arrange their car rental with us is – be patient out there! There is a whole lot of roadworks going on this summer, and like our branches, you’ll find them all over New Zealand!
The nation’s road workers have enjoyed a well-deserved Christmas break and the vast majority of them are back on the job, and it’s a big one. All told this year, some 2000 workers will sweat it out on 2,500 work sites from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South Island. The country is in the middle of a massive road renewal project; last year 10% of the roading network was renewed or replaced. This year, 8.5% of our roads will be refreshed; that’s 2000 kilometres of roading or the equivalent of repaving a two-lane road from Bluff to Picton.
No matter where you are driving this year, you will definitely encounter road works. Some of the biggest projects are long overdue, especially in regions like Northland, the lower half of the South Island and Bay of Plenty. And then, there’s the Waikato, which will have 20% of the nations roadworks being carried out in that region alone. This all reflects the extra money being put into roading improvements by the Government, and while they are certainly needed in many parts of the country, it also means that we, as motorists, need to be a little patient.
With more roadworks being carried out than ever before, and the restricted speed limits we associate with these sites, we all need to take a deep breath, slow right down and take our time travelling through these yet-to-be-completed projects. The men and women toiling away on these projects have every right to get home to their families at the end of the day, so the least we can do in the comfort of our vehicles, is to abide by the speed limits and other traffic management rules that are in place at each site. This means it could take longer than expected to reach our destinations, so leaving earlier than planned could be a smart move if you have to be somewhere at a certain time.
Slowing things down even more is the increased amount of traffic on the road. In these COVID-affected times, the road trip has replaced the overseas holiday and more and more Kiwis are hitting the roads. Again, a little patience is required. So why not contact us and book a comfortable and stylish car that you won’t mind spending a little extra time in?
