Don’t be surprised to see Downer patrol crews out and about around Tairāwhiti undertaking essential work.

The company will be ensuring the roads continue to be safe and maintained throughout the COVID-19 alert level 4 lockdown.

Six patrol crews will undertake both sealed and unsealed road maintenance, emergency response, safety signs, traffic management and respond to requests for service that come through Council. In addition to the six crews there are three inspectors checking for serious defects across the road network.

The patrols crews are sent out when and where required, in order to remedy urgent defects.

There are a number of worksites on local roads that were partway through completion before the lockdown began. Downer have deployed four traffic management staff, who check these unmanned or unattended worksites on a daily basis to ensure they are setup safely and correctly.

Downer are also Council’s first port of call to assist Civil Defence in the case of an emergency.

Gisborne District Council Emergency Coordination Centre group controller Dave Wilson extended a heartfelt thanks to the Downer crews.

“We are really grateful for the support of the Downer staff and their families to enable this important work to be happening to keep our community safe on the roads,” said Mr Wilson.

“It is another example of our wider community working together to protect and support Tairāwhiti during these challenging times.”

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