SmartGrowth works on safety

SmartGrowth leaders acknowledge the hurt and frustration of people campaigning for safer roads in the western Bay of Plenty and have vowed to work harder to address the issues raised by State Highway 2 campaigners.

The Fix the Bloody Roads campaign launched a petition following a protest on the Wairoa Bridge on SH2 on September 16, to stop more housing being built in communities such as O¯ mokoroa until the highway is upgraded.

Western Bay and Tauranga City Council mayors and the Regional Chair said they are committed to working together with the NZ Transport Agency and central government to find workable solutions.

SmartGrowth leaders will be meeting with the Transport Agency Board to present their united front and explore urgent ways of resolving the large transport issues here.

NZ Transport Agency portfolio manager Chris Gasson said on Monday that work is about to start on the SH2 Waihi to O¯ mokoroa safety improvements project which is around 40km in length. He said 22 traffic counters were put in along the state highway for one week from September 14 to 21 to collect data.

“The counters are in addition to the permanent telemetry sites which measure traffic volumes and are used to gain more specific information, such as the types and number of vehicles using the road at more specific points.

“The data is used by the team when designing things like the intersections and help determine what kind of pavement needs to be laid.” The Transport Agency will be putting in a wide centre line, widening the road shoulders to give drivers more room, installing roadside safety barriers where there are power poles, trees and deep ditches and making 26 intersections safer.

This is one part of the SH2 Waihi to Tauranga programme — the Transport Agency is reevaluating four projects planned for SH2, a process Transport Minister Phil Twyford has previously said he would not interfere with.