Highway improvements proposed around hakea
Dramatic changes to the state highway layout at hakea between Sanson and Bulls have been proposed by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.
The agency is consulting the public on its plans to install a roundabout at the hakea air base turn off, possibly lower the speed limit, install an off-road path for cyclists and pedestrians, and shift the truck weigh station across the road.
Agency director of regional relationships Emma Speight said the goal was to make the road safer and to prevent deaths and serious injuries.
Automobile Association Manawatu¯ district chairman Garry Goodman had in the past spoken against moves to slow and calm traffic near hakea, including the removal of a passing lane.
He said the changes were lowering the effectiveness of the state highway for moving goods and vehicles in the interests of supporting development at the air base. But the latest set of proposals had the association’s measured approval.
‘‘We are supporting the roundabout, but are not so keen on the speed restrictions.
‘‘A roundabout does make sense, but it remains, in our view, an interim solution.’’
Goodman said the ultimate fix for increasing capacity on State Highway 1 would be a new road link completely bypassing the two towns, including a new bridge over the Rangitı¯kei River, but that was not likely to happen any time soon.
Speight said the proposed safety improvements were part of the agency’s Road To Zero strategy to reduce deaths and serious injuries on New Zealand roads, streets, cycleways and footpaths by 40 per cent in a decade.
The stretch between Sanson and Bulls, which is both State Highway 3 from east to west and State Highway 1 from south to north, had seen 83 crashes between 2010 and 2019.
Some 14 people were seriously injured, and 23 received minor injuries.
The 6.5km length of highway was in the top 10 per cent for deaths and serious injuries on state highways in New Zealand.
Speight said speed was an element in many crashes, and even if it was not the direct cause, it determined how serious the outcome was.
‘‘Humans are fallible and inevitably make mistakes, but those mistakes shouldn’t cost lives.
‘‘That’s why we’re proposing a range of safety improvements, and asking people what they think of the current speed limit on this section of road.’’
The agency was running a four-week engagement round to help come up with a detailed proposal. Any speed limit reduction proposed would go out for formal submissions later in the year.