Road safety

The results of a new state highway evaluation method called Kiwirap or Road Assessment Programme saw all state highways in the country classified into one of five groups, from one star to five star.

The method judges roads according accident density or the number of fatal and serious accidents per kilometre of road.

There were no roads anywhere with one star rating, nor were there any roads judged five star though some sections under the minimum 5 K length met the five star requirements.

Four star highways or roads with only minor deficiencies, were all in either Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch. In Wellington about two thirds of the length of the highways was deemed to be four star, while only one quarter were two star.

In Hawke's Bay all roads were judged two star. That is all state highways had major deficiencies such as poor alignment and roadside conditions .

Hawke's Bay roads were judged some of the poorest, and we have two of the three most dangerous roads in the country. SH 2 from Napier to Hastings was number one , and SH2 from Napier to Bay View was number three.

This is highly unsatisfactory. I have already commented on how we seem to miss out on so much meaningful Government expenditure. Recently the New Zealand Transport Agency called for tenders to build one of New Zealand's most expensive-ever roading systems, the two billion dollar 4.5-kilometre long Waterview Connection in Auckland, linking the Southwestern motorway with the Northwestern motorway.

On a per capita basis if we were to get that sort of money we would be getting $200 million. Some important upgrades are now underway including the southern extension of the expressway, road straightening at Dillans hill on SH5 to Taupo, and the Matahura Gorge deviation on the road to Wairoa.

The out of town upgrades are good especially for trucks, but traffic volumes mean these roads are not deemed as dangerous as the two worst sections of SH2.

I was disappointed but not surprised there was no comment from our local government leaders. They seem more interested in gaining funding for pet projects rather than fixing life and death issues.

Bad driving does cause accidents and there has been some talk of lowering the speed limit to 80K, but the present limits are appropriate for major arterial roads.

The problem is lack of money to fix the problems. Making it easier to pass and having more slow lanes for turning traffic would help. At the Marine Parade end of SH2 there are large Norfolk pines, and near Hastings deep ditches on both sides of the road. The ditches could be piped removing one obvious danger while at the same time providing more space for slow vehicles and turning traffic.

Some accidents involve pedestrians and cyclists and even more effort is needed to provide a continuous walkway/cycleway between Napier and Hastings, starting where there are bridges.

There is now firm evidence there is a problem, so we must act. We need to make a better case for some serious spending. We need to prioritise safety and efficiency. Lets do so before we are dealing with another fatality.