Heavy trucks may be stopped from using Tahakopa Valley Rd in bad weather, under a proposed new bylaw.
The council will today discuss a report which states that damage to Tahakopa Valley Rd could be prevented by precluding heavy motor vehicles from using the road during times of ';';non-optimal conditions''.
An agenda item states the road is an important access route for logging activities in the Catlins.
Intensive logging was a permitted activity in Tahakopa Valley Rd as a ';';district arterial road''.
However, the council had limited options for dealing with issues which may arise on the road. The proposed bylaw would give the council the power to prevent damage instead of needing to deal with repairs and the recovery of damage costs afterwards.
The agenda item also noted the financial impact of not having the proposed bylaw could be significant.
If adopted, the bylaw would allow the council to manage the road during ';';adverse weather events''.
It would limit access to the road by heavy vehicles each year between August and the end of September.
The section of the road which the council will consider restricting access to starts 13km from the Papatowai Highway and finishes where it becomes the Mokoreta Tahakopa Rd, 29.5km from Papatowai Highway.
