‘She’ll be right…’ What a Kiwi-ism. In one go, it can convey optimism, nonchalance, or indifference. It can be overwhelmingly positive or hide resignation. It’s appealing when used in a laid-back sense, not so when said with dismay.

One thing’s for sure, though, there’s a time when it’s appropriate – and anything to do with roading is an example of when it’s not, especially when you don’t have to drive far to find crumbling roading infrastructure.

With the massive amounts of rain hitting New Zealand over the past few weeks, the number of roading alerts coming from Waka Kotahi NZTA has kept the inbox pinging far more than usual. Clearly, the agency and its contractors have had their hands full trying to deal with the constant slips, rockfalls, flooding, road washouts, and potholes. To their credit, many of the more seriously damaged roads have been rectified and reopened without much delay.

My question, though, is, to what standard? I understand the just-get-it-open urgency – especially in remote and hard-to-reach places like the guts of Gisborne – but I can’t help feeling that ‘she’ll be right’ is, therefore, the standard.

Carl and I witnessed it first-hand earlier this week in Taranaki. SH3 is currently appalling; littered with potholes, depressions, ruts and separation. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a car or a truck, but if they’re in your wheel tracks, they hit hard and break vehicles, and you can’t discern many with rainwater on the road. The sections we regularly crossed during the three days seemed to worsen each time we passed.

As with the more serious roading afflictions this winter, contractors were on-site in their rainproof hi-vis at numerous spots along 3, doing their best to fill in the tyre- and suspension-killing missing blacktop. The only thing is, I’m pretty sure you can’t fix saturated roads in the pouring rain.

The amount of roading aggregate being flung up into the wheel arches sounded like a popcorn machine had started popping at each corner of the car.

The workers lay it down, and the vehicles lift it up. Repeat.

As we passed a crew of workers hurriedly dropping asphalt into a cluster of potholes, the rainwater that had filled them being displaced with each tip of the shovel, I thought, “Good effort, boys…”

And I can swear I heard an indifferent, “She’ll be right” in response.

Take care out there,

Gavin Myers
Editor