New lower speed limits for Napier-Taupō road 'won't be popular with everyone'

Friday, 17 December 2021

A truck driver captures a dangerous driver on the Napier-Taupo road on the night of August 20, 2020.

New lower speed limits will be enforced on the Napier-Taupō Road from February – with Waka Kotahi saying it “won’t be popular with everyone, but it’s the right thing to do”.

The agency announced on Friday it will lower the speed limit on the road (also known as State Highway 5) between Rangitaiki and Esk Valley after considering public feedback after the proposal was announced earlier this year.

The proposal was contentious with proponents saying it would save lives, while others, including Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst and super car driver Greg Murphy, questioning the agency's motives and claiming the reduction would make little difference.

Hazlehurst labelled the proposal was a “cheap trick”, “cynical” and said the real issue was years of under-investment and the “irresponsible behaviour by a small minority of the driving public”.

**READ MORE:

Nine people have died on SH5 in the past two years. (File photo)

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The new speed limits for Napier-Taupo Road coming into effect in February.

* Waka Kotahi to review nearly 1800 submissions on 80kph speed proposal for Napier-Taupō Road

* Proposed speed limit for notorious Napier-Taupō highway 'naive' - racing driver Greg Murphy

After considering 1800 submissions and following technical assessments of the road the agency has decided to go ahead with the proposal that will see the speed limit reduce from 100kmh to 80 kmh between Rangitaiki (1140m southeast of Matea Road) to Esk Valley (110m west of Waipunga Road).

Director of Regional Relationships Linda Stewart said the feedback had been heeded and the agency understood the desire to also make infrastructure changes, such as shoulder widening, wide centrelines, side barriers. Following detailed design work, this would begin in late 2022.

“In the meantime, however, the most effective tool we have at our disposal now to dramatically improve safety for everyone who uses this road is to replace the unsafe speed limit of 100kmh with a much safer speed limit of 80kmh. That won’t be popular with everyone, but it’s the right thing to do and our priority is that everyone gets to their destination safely.”

Between 2010 and 2019, 16 people were killed and 75 were seriously injured in crashes on SH5 between Taupō and Napier. Since December 2019, a further nine people have lost their lives in six fatal crashes. All but one of these occurred between Rangitaiki and Esk Valley.

“We have clear evidence to show that the current speed limit is not safe for this road, even for the best drivers. The road traverses a constrained and challenging environment and is hilly with sweeping bends and no physical separation of traffic travelling in opposite directions,” Stewart said.

“It’s not safe or appropriate for it to have the same speed limit as Auckland’s Southern Motorway or the Hawke’s Bay Expressway. Speed limits should reflect the type of road and their environment.”