Highway may close, locals outraged
A rural community is outraged abut the likely closure of a section of main highway with a problematic railway crossing near Hamilton.
State Highway 1B, also known as Telephone Rd, is the main travel route for people wanting to bypass Hamilton and continue south. But, the section of road that intersects with a rail crossing has been closed since April after a truck dislodged train tracks for the third time.
Hundreds of vehicles now travelled down rural side-roads that were struggling to cope with increased traffic – adding an extra 10-minutes to the journey.
Waka Kotahi and Kiwirail wanted to close the section of highway permanently due to safety concerns and the risk of train derailment, but locals say it isn’t good enough. Over 150 people turned up to the Puketaha Hall on Monday to discuss the future of the road rail crossing with staff from the transport agencies and Waikato District Council.
‘‘It’s ridiculous,’’ Natasha Field said. She was annoyed that authorities had taken the easy option to close the road instead of fixing the problem.
Her family owned blueberry farms on State Highway 1B or Marshmeadow Rd, and during picking season around 40 of their staff travelled to and from the site, forced to take the detour route.
Holland, Waverley, and Seddon roads were now damaged, full of pot-holes and not coping with increased use.
The route was used by large trucks, and would continue to be until the Hamilton section of the Waikato Expressway opened in July and provided an alternative route.
Field could not see why the road couldn’t be used by locals after that. The closure of the road was cutting the community in half, and affected hundreds and hundreds of people, she said.
Steve Clausen agreed, and said the issue would go away once the expressway was completed.
He said they should be fixing the road, instead of just closing it.
He had a house and dairy farms on both Kiroa and Seddon roads, and said pulling out onto the detour route was now dangerous.
Waka Kotahi director of regional relationships David Speirs said it knew people were frustrated, but ‘‘a huge chunk of railway came out and the risk of derailment was high’’.
‘‘The ideal is to find a cost-effective, safe way to keep it open. But the reality is we haven’t been able to find that solution.’’
The train tracks were raised, which meant some vehicles scraped the line and damaged the tracks.
Fixing this would cost tens of thousands, and take a long time.
Speirs said the intersection was dangerous anyway, and classed as highrisk because of eight deaths or serious injuries in the last 10 years.
KiwiRail spokesperson Angus Hodgson said it recognised the impact on locals, but must put the safety of staff and people on the road first.
‘‘The current level crossing is one of the most dangerous of the 1300 public road crossings in New Zealand, and the eastern line is one of the busiest in New Zealand.’’
Mayor Allan Sanson said the road was an interim highway that had been managed by Waka Kotahi for 23 years, but was owned by the Waikato District Council. He wanted them to fix it.