4 October 2018

The three-yearly audit of Hamilton’s footpaths will for the first time be done using hi-tech scooters.

The audit of around 1000km of footpaths is taking place over October, with the information used to identify urgent maintenance repairs and guide the city’s footpath renewal programme for the next two years.

Two scooters will travel over all footpaths recording and rating any faults or defects, including damage caused by tree roots, utilities and vehicles. They will operate at a brisk walking pace and give way to pedestrians.

The use of the scooters is more efficient and cost effective, with the audit being completed over a month compared to the four months previously required to walk and inspect the footpath network.

In addition to this snapshot at one point in time of the state of the city’s footpath network, footpath inspections are also carried out across the city twice a year. The Council also relies on residents to alert them to footpath issues which arise outside of the inspections.

The city’s extensive footpath renewal programme for this year is well underway, with $5.1M budgeted to replace footpaths on 80 streets, covering 17.3km. This is more than double the previous year, and reflects the need for replacement of footpaths installed in the city 20-25 years ago during significant city development.

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