'Just nonsensical': NZTA turns its eye to Napier-Wairoa speed reduction

Wairoa Mayor Craig Little said any move to lower the speed limits on lengthy stretches of the 116km between Napier and Wairoa will take the region "back years". Photo / NZME

State Highway 2 between Napier and Wairoa could be the next major stretch of road poised for a speed reduction.

It comes after Government national highways management authority Waka Kotahi NZTA revealed it has already completed a "technical assessment" of speed limits on the road and is on seemingly the same path that led to December's announcement that by the NZTA that speed limits on about 90km of the Napier-Taupo highway will be cut from 100km/h to 80km/h from February 18.

The possibility has angered Wairoa Mayor Craig Little, who said any move to lower the speed limits on lengthy stretches of the 116km between Napier and Wairoa to prolong or avoid what was really necessary will take the region "back years."

On the road to Wairoa, the start of a journey on State Highway 2 near Whirinaki. Photo / Warren Buckland

An NZTA spokesman said the assessment takes into account crash history, average vehicle speeds, vehicle volumes and development of surrounding areas and helps the agency to determine if changing the speed limits is the best thing to do to improve road safety, where new speed limits might begin or end, and if any other safety improvements might be needed.

He says if it determines current speed limits are not safe and appropriate, further steps will be needed before changing any speed limits, including engagement and consultation with the community.

"As part of this we will work closely with our iwi partners, local government, road safety partners, and the community as local knowledge is vital to our speed review process," he says.

Little said he travelled State Highway 38 (Wairoa-Rotorua), State Highway 5 (Rotorua-Napier) and State Highway 2 (Napier-Wairoa) last week to make himself familiar with conditions up to the minute, and to compare the three.

"New Zealand's roading network is going backwards rather than meeting the needs of the future," he concluded, saying that SH38, a popular scenic route for tourists and a potentially important part of the economies of Wairoa, East Coast and Hawke's Bay "would have to be the worst State Highway in the country."

In relation to the Napier-Taupo Road he said: "A blanket speed reduction on an entire stretch of road is just nonsensical.

"The last leg of my journey was the notorious SH2 Napier to Wairoa," he said. "This journey was a patched quilt of potholes and orange road cones.

"If State Highway 5 is the benchmark for a reduced speed limit, then I shudder to think what SH2 should be reduced to - based on the condition of SH5 I would suggest 60km."

He said generations of people have travelled these highways.

"We have gone from 100-years ago, when a journey from Wairoa to Napier took two days, to nowadays taking barely two hours," he said. "Unfortunately, under this present regime, we seem to be turning the clock backwards."

NZTA is however moving towards a diversion for the Waikare Gorge sector of the highway, but it is 12 years since the completion of the next-most recent major job, the Matahoura Gorge deviation, bridge and highway realignment.