Calls for urgent fix for road

A double fatality on a killer stretch of Taranaki highway has renewed calls for safety upgrades to be fast tracked.

Two men died in a head-on crash on State Highway 3, just south of Waitara, about 10pm on Sunday on a stretch of road once described by police as a ‘‘killing field’’.

The names of the drivers, who were the sole occupants of both vehicles, have not yet been released by police. A spokeswoman said both men were from overseas and police were attempting to contact their families.

It’s Taranaki’s busiest stretch of highway and in the last decade it has claimed the lives of 14 people while countless others have been seriously injured.

The 12 kilometres between New Plymouth and Waitara includes 12 uncontrolled intersections, three of of which make the country’s 100 most dangerous.

While the New Zealand Transport Agency has plans for a major safety upgrade along the unforgiving ribbon of injury and death, the changes are not happening fast enough for many and Sunday’s deaths have reignited calls for the work to be fast tracked.

New Plymouth mayor Neil Holdom said it was horrific to wake up to hear that two more families had lost people on the dangerous stretch of road.

Holdom, who has helped champion the need for the upgrade, said he had met NZTA chief executive Fergus Gammie and NZTA chair Michael Stiassny, in September, to express in the strongest terms the community’s desire to see a plan finalised and construction under way as soon as possible.

‘‘Our goal is to have that plan fast tracked before any further lives are lost on this busy stretch of State Highway.’’

He described the highway as a ‘‘dog’s breakfast’’ of visual distractions and clogged intersections no longer fit for purpose and has invited Transport Minister Phil Twyford to visit the region so he could see first hand the desperate need for change.

‘‘Minister Twyford has committed to visiting Taranaki before Christmas and my expectation is that by the time he visits NZTA will have finalised their plans and be ready to share them.’’

Shay Thompson, who manages C&C Autos, said there was a constant string of near misses where the highway intersects with Raleigh St which were usually attributable to impatient drivers. Thompson said he had witnessed his fair share of crashes at the site and believed the upgrade was urgently needed.