Number of roads in the Central division to be reconstructed this year

A number of roads in the Central division will be reconstructed this year.             

According to Fiji Roads Authority's 2016 provisional program, CWM hospital road, Waimanu road, Gaji road, Amy street, Usher street, Matua street, Thomson street and Foster road will undergo reconstruction this year.

As far as road repairs are concerned for this year, a number of roads in Samabula, Nabua, Raiwai and Nasinu will undergo repairs like pothole patching and other repair works soon.

This can take place from within a week to around two months time.

Some of these roads have many potholes and some have become uneven.

Meanwhile, the Authority says a major factor that they have to consider on urban roads before an upgrade takes place is the depth of the services like pipes and cables.

It says they reconstructed some busy streets in Suva in 2013 where 80% of the project work took place beneath the surface where they had to relocate and replace a lot of old pipes and cables which is the responsibility of other utility providers.

The Authority says it would be ideal to carry out rehabilitation projects on some worse off roads but they have to carry out proper surveys to locate the infrastructure beneath the road and factor in any replacement costs into the road upgrade.

The Fiji Roads Authority was allocated a record $635.7 million in the 2016 National budget to upgrade and repair roads around the country.

$79 million was allocated for maintenance of roads around the country.