Western Bay of Plenty’s winding Athenree Rd: Five crashes in one section so far this year

Bus driver Chris Bedford at Athenree Rd’s problem area where there have been multiple crashes.

“Please take more care and slow down along our road.”

Athenree locals are concerned about an area of Athenree Rd after seeing at least five cars in the ditch this year.

Last month, another car left the road and careered down the bank.

Local resident, historian and school bus driver Chris Bedford says this is the fifth accident with cars ending up in the ditch or into the trees on the orchard shelter belt on the northern side of the road.

The problem area is travelling from Waihī Beach heading to State Highway 2 between Steel Rd and Waiau Rd (or 950m from the SH2 turnoff).

Chris says unfortunately, locals are getting a bit used to it.

“We think the accidents are people driving too fast for the conditions on a winding piece of road they are probably not familiar with.”

The road can be greasy, he says, possibly because it is shaded by the shelter belt across the road.

“Maybe it could be resealed so it’s not so greasy and I think it could do with some side barriers.”

The speed limit is 100km/h which is “far too fast for a windy road”, Chris says.

Mayor View Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Paul Tucker says they have received quite a few callouts for car crashes on that section of Athenree Rd, with one being very serious involving two cars. All the others have been single-car accidents, he says.

“My advice is even though this section of Athenree Rd has a speed limit of 100km/h, this may be too fast in wet conditions, so drivers may need to slow down for the conditions.”

Chris at the most recent accident site.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council road safety engineer Ashley Hall says they have received several complaints about the location.

As a result, the council has brought forward resurfacing of the road to this summer.

“In the meantime, we have temporarily reduced the speed limit to 70km/h and have requested our maintenance provider installs temporary traffic management signs and road cones to serve as a warning of the current road condition and encourage people to take extra care on this particular section of Athenree Rd.”

Once the surface has been renewed, they will monitor the site to consider whether additional measures are needed such as edge marker posts or permanent curve advisory signs, Ashley says.

“We’ll also inspect the bend to access whether a road safety barrier is appropriate or required in accordance with national standards.”

There are records of just two non-injury crashes at this location in 2019 and 2010, “however this does not mean there have not been others”.

If a crash is not attended by police or crash data is not uploaded by police, it is unlikely to be recorded in New Zealand Transport Agency crash analysis system.