Road carpet

Press, 30 March 1989, Page 12

Road carpet

Sir,—A very handsome stretch of road carpet has recently appeared outside the Avon Hotel on Oxford Terrace. Except for this particular stretch — extending some 20-30 m past the hotel frontage on either side — the remainder of this section of Oxford Terrace (bounded by Barbadoes and Kilmore Streets) has a “gravel-dumped-on-hot-tar” surface. This comparatively primitive surface was magnanimously resurfaced some two months ago and has generously provided local residents with copious quantities of molten tar throughout their houses ever

since. All this begs the question: If it is deemed appropriate/ desirable/necessary to resurface a very recently upgraded stretch of road in smooth and luxurious road carpet, then why not the remainder of this -section of Oxford Terrace?—Yours, etc., DAVE R. DAVIES. March 18, 1989.

[The City Engineer, Mr J. A. Ince, replies: “Your correspondent has commented on the handsome stretch of road carpet outside the Avon Hotel in Oxford Terrace. Oxford Terrace and some neighbouring streets were resealed this season by a contractor. As the quality of work outside the Avon Hotel was not entirely satisfactory it was necessary to ask the contractor to correct the problems with the hotmix smoothing coat Although the extent of the problem involved- only half of the road width, for reasons of consistency the work has now been extended to the full road width. As far as the problems with stickiness and excess bitumen are concerned elsewhere on this newly sealed road, this stems principally from the unusually hot summer which has led to a much higher surface temperature on the road than normally experienced. This has caused bitumen flushing problems. Unfortunately cost precludes the use of the hotmix surface on a general basis in streets of this type.”]