Fish and hits: Heavy vehicles smash into Napier Hill takeaway four times in one year

Manager of Ma's Food - Fish & Fries, Toni Bailey in front of her damaged awning. Photo / Paul Taylor

Whenever Napier's Breakwater Rd is closed, the owner of a Napier Hill takeaway institution knows she's in for trouble.

Ma's Food Fish and Fries proudly displays its wares on its awning outside its store on the corner of Shakespeare and Coote Rds.

But this week a truck that couldn't access the port during a road closure to assess potentially dangerous rocks on Bluff Hill lopped off a decent chunk of the awning.

Manager Toni Bailey wouldn't have minded so much - but it was the fourth time a heavy vehicle has hit and damaged her store's awning this year because they've gone up Napier Hill when Breakwater Rd is closed.

Shakespeare and Coote Rds are winding, narrow and hilly. Logging trucks streamed over them on Monday and Tuesday to travel between Napier Port and Marine Parade.

Bailey said the trucks coming into the port from Hastings should be directed at the top of Marine Parade to go down Georges Drive, and those leaving the port to be directed down Hyderabad towards Prebensen Drive.

Instead, she said, a sign directed traffic up and over the hill.

"There were about 13 logging trucks going down Coote Rd within the space of about three hours on Monday."

The damage to Ma's Food, Fish and Fries caused by the back trailer of a truck. Photo / Warren Buckland

Bailey was not at work when the awning was knocked off, but a witness told her the truck, which had to swing out wide to get around the corner, then to pull in suddenly as a car failed to stop, and the back trailer took out the awning.

She said three times this year, buses had done something similar when using Shakespeare Rd.

She said she understood the need to carry out safety work on Bluff Hill, but there needed to be better communication between Napier City Council, the port and trucking companies, to ensure they knew which route to take.

Nimon and Sons, who manage the school bus service for Napier Girls' High School and Sacred Heart College, also had issues with the diversion.

General manager Katie Nimon said buses and trucks were passing within centimetres of each other.

It was a tight squeeze from buses, trucks and parked cars. Photo / Supplied

"It's a narrow, uphill residential road, and it's in a school zone.

"The council should have alternative plans in place."

She said she had not noticed the problem before, but was unaware whether that was because of the management of the most recent diversion, or whether trucks had not been diverted at school hours before.

But Napier City Council senior roading engineer Tony Mills said the council asked trucks not to use Napier Hill as an alternative route.

He said Coote Rd was closed on Tuesday, after the awning was struck on Monday.

He said detour signs at the Ahuriri Bypass at Chatham Lane directed traffic heading towards the port onto Shakespeare Rd. "We had [asked] cthe Road Transport Association to use Georges Dr and Marine Pde and not go via the hill and this was largely adhered to.

"The VMS [variable message sign] on the state highway south of Napier stated 'Breakwater Road closed. Port access eastern gate via Marine Parade'."

He said no traffic signs on Marine Parade directed traffic onto Shakespeare Rd, however, Shakespeare Rd is a legal public road soanyone is entitled to use it.

A spokesperson for Napier Port said it normally receives a copy of the management plan when Breakwater Rd closed and would share the information with trucking firms and other regular port users.