Planning for $100m safety upgrade on notorious Napier-Taupō road being brought forward

Monday, 28 June 2021

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

The planning for a major $100 million safety upgrade for the notorious Napier-Taupō Road (State Highway 5) will begin ahead of schedule.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency said if funded, the project may include median barriers, side barriers, wide centrelines and intersection improvements.

“It is a start,” said safety advocate and regular driver of SH5 Antony Alexander, who said he would continue to be vocal about the need for improved safety. “I have to be. I don't want to be one of the first in the scene of another fatal.”

Since 2014, there’s been more than 250 crashes reported between Eskdale and Tarawera, including nine deaths between 2019 and 2020.

**READ MORE:

A heat map showing the location of serious crashes on the Napier-Taupo Rd (State Highway 5)

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Since 2019, there have been nine deaths on State Highway 5.

* New 80kmh speed limits for Napier-Taupō Road proposed after safety concerns raised

NZTA has also committed $2.5 million for safety improvements for SH5 which will be carried out over the next four months.

The planning process is expected to be completed by this August,and the project was expected to start during the 2021-24 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) period.

“We had initially scheduled the speed changes in the 2021-24 NLTP and the infrastructure improvements in the 2027-30 NLTP.

Following a review of the SH5 corridor, we brought the business case for infrastructure improvements forward,” said a spokesperson for the transport agency, Linda Stewartsaid.

“We are still in the early stages of this project and the next steps will be to complete the feasibility and design work, and engage with our stakeholders and communities. We would then apply for consents and begin staged construction.”

Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst has led the region’s push for more safety measures on SH5. While a business case was “some progress “towards a safer SH5, it didn’t provide any guarantees for the community, she said.

“We need to see the agency’s plan for State Highway 5 as well as their decision about the speed limits – that is most important to the community.

“This plan should include more passing lanes, safety barriers and road realignment to save more lives on this road. It’s vital that more than just maintenance is done, so our community who use this road is protected”.

Safety advocate Antony Alexander said while he was happy that the business case had been brought forward, a $100 million investment is “still not going to be enough”.

“A good step towards getting areas realigned and straightened would be landowners and iwi offering land to enable NZTA to get this work done.”

Napier MP Stuart Nash and Tukituki MP Anna Lorck welcomed the transport agency’s “breakthrough decision”.

Nash and Lorck said they “worked and advocated hard” for a long-term solution to make SH5 between Napier and Taupō a safer road for all to travel.

Waka Kotahi has committed $2.5 million for safety improvements for SH5 which will be carried out over the next four months. These improvements will include side barriers, road markings and rumble lines.