Ten years on Otaika Valley Rd log truck crashes keep coming

Otaika Valley Rd - the scene of repeated log truck crashes.

Otaika Valley Rd - it's a rural haven and a traffic nightmare where residents are caught in their own unique Groundhog Day hell.

In 2007, a local told the Northern Advocate ''You just cringe each time you're driving and a logging truck comes your way . . . You just want to shrink and make yourself smaller.''

It was the year of a particularly tragic accident involving log trucks and Otaika Valley Rd.
As two trucks approached, a log from one struck the cab of the other, killing the driver.
That year, residents asked for the road to be realigned after the fourth logging truck accident in 12 months.

If residents thought things were bad in 2007, in 2010 more logging trucks rolled - by August there had been three heavy vehicle accidents on Otaika Valley Rd.
In 2011, things really started to roll.

Great news - logging industry experts told the Northland Regional Council's Regional Transport Committee that an average of 95 logging trucks each day would increase to 226 by 2020.

Trees from the 1980s planting boom were now maturing, the wall of wood needed to be trucked out.

The committee was warned that unless rail services were extended log truck numbers on the roads would climb steadily.

The committee was deeply concerned.

A few weeks later, there were two Mangakahia Rd - a road which links with Otaika Valley Rd - logging truck crashes on consecutive mornings. In July 2011, a logging truck and diesel tanker collided on Otaika Valley Rd.

A local heard a loud bang.

"My husband said to me then, 'I bet that's a logging truck'."

More concern.
In July, a logging truck rolled on the corner of SH1 and Kamo RD - the fourth accident involving a logging truck since May 24.

In 2012, there were 21 crashes in Northland involving logging trucks. For some reason, not many of these made it into the paper. We learned there had been 72 logging truck crashes since 2008.

In 2013 there were at least four logging truck crashes on Otaika Valley Rd up until August.

By this stage, people were really concerned.

A public meeting in August that year saw acting mayor Phil Hulse pledge to get work underway on signage and widening corners. Three residents were appointed to work with the council.

In December that year, a car and logging truck collided at the Otaika Valley and Loop Rds intersection.

April 2014, and locals are told the amount of logs coming out of Whangarei will go from 2.6 million cubic metres to 4 million cubic metres.

Imagine the concern now.

The same year the district council estimated the cost of damage from logging trucks to the district's logging routes - mainly Mangakahia Rd and Otaika Valley Rd/Loop Rd - was an extra $1 million a year.

Over the next three years - more of the same. Palpable concern by now.

There is talk that Otaika Valley Rd will become a highway and come under the jurisdiction of NZTA.

There have been more crashes, more public meetings.

In May 2016, there were five logging truck crashes in one month.

In July 2016, finally, Otaika Valley Rd became a highway and moved from council to NZTA jurisdiction.

In 2017, more logging truck accidents including a fatal accident in May when a road worker is killed.

And on July 4, 2017 another one. This time the driver is praised for taking evasive action when another vehicle lost control. It's not always the log truck driver's fault, is the cry on Facebook.

And last night another crash.

The logs were collected and the road cleared before 7am yesterday.

This is a real concern.