Waipū roundabout proposal angers residents

Love Waipū chairman Bruce Larsen and Waipū 2000 chairman Graham Boult are concerned about the proposed changes to intersections in Waipū. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Waipū locals have blasted a proposed traffic change that could see an average of 137 vehicles an hour channelled through the town's humble main road.

Residents described a proposal by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency to shut off access to State Highway 1 via Nova Scotia Dr, and turn The Braigh – a link between the town and SH1 – into a cul-de-sac, as well construct a new roundabout where the highway intersects with Shoemaker Rd, as a death trap.

The changes would see Shoemaker Rd – a 30km/h road in central Waipū - become the main access point to and from SH1.

Graham Boult, chairman of community group Waipū 2000, said Shoemaker Rd was not fit for purpose to cope with the amount of extra traffic he predicted the changes would drive through the township.

In a letter to Waka Kotahi and nine other local organisations, Boult described the potential for Shoemaker Rd to experience an additional 2000 vehicles a day on top of the current 1300 based on Northland Transport Alliance data.

"If you put 4000 vehicles through the centre of town, you're going to get deaths, no question about it my book," he told the Advocate.

"You've got one pedestrian crossing; you've got schoolkids going across that all the time. You've got an elderly rest home across the road from the shops. You've got those people in their frames going across it all the time."

The focus on safety around SH1 without understanding the context of the surroundings and those who live there was at the helm at the issue for Boult.

"The farmers at Nova Scotia are then going to have to trundle all the way down here at 20km/h in their tractors several times a day. That's going to create a problem, cars backed up, getting impatient.

"If you are only looking at SH1, which is what they do, that makes sense to them," Boult said.

The SH1 and Shoemaker Rd proposal. Image Supplied / Waka Kotahi

SH1 and Millbrook Rd and The Braigh. Supplied / Waka Kotahi

Proposal for SH1 and Rosythe Rd and Nova Scotia Dr. Supplied / Waka Kotahi

Northpine general manager and Promote Waipū chairman Bruce Larsen was concerned local businesses would "suffer" if the proposal went ahead.

"It would be too difficult for people to turn off and people would go up to Ruakākā or to the next place."

While Larsen had no doubt the plans would reduce the number of deaths on SH1, he believed they "would significantly increase the likelihood of accidents in town".

For now, Waipū locals are in a waiting game to find out how long they may be stuck in future traffic queues.

"It might be fit for their purpose, but it just creates so many other problems that they had to actually say, 'well, we need to rethink this'," Larsen said.

The road proposal has ruffled feathers with the Whangārei District Council (WDC), who have been working on road-rehabilitation on The Braigh since November.

WDC Bream Bay Ward councillor Ken Couper thinks Waka Kotahi needs to consider the nuances of Waip in its big-picture road safety plan. Photo / Michael Cunningham

WDC Bream Bay Ward councillor Ken Couper was worried the safety changes to SH1 were at a cost to the safety of the Waipū community.

"I don't think we should put up with, in the name of safety on the road out there [SH1], sending traffic through the town and creating a worse safety issue here.

"It is again another example of Waka Kotahi maybe operating with a narrow vision that doesn't take the bigger picture into account," he said.

Couper said he felt that Waka Kotahi needs "to listen to the people" and come up with a solution that better reflects the requirements of Waipū, including the farms bordering the roads proposed to change.

"You have a lot of farms and they're going to cut them in half with wire barriers in the name of safety. So, for the farmers to get from one side of the land to the other across the road, are going to have to drive, in some cases, kilometres down a road to get to a turning point to come back up to get the other side."

In his capacity as a councillor, Couper had the opportunity to attend three different meetings where Waka Kotahi presented the proposal.

He understood some meetings with Waka Kotahi were cancelled because of the unfolding pandemic and were "unfortunately" never replaced.

"That leaves the local people sort of feeling uncomfortable as to how they are actually going to listen to us, and what is going on now," Couper said.

"I think they [Waka Kotahi] understand. I think the grievances or the concerns of local people have been put before them. What worries me is that they haven't been heard."

Waka Kotahi confirmed staunch feedback from the Waipū community had prompted them to look at "alternative safety options" for the SH1 intersections.

A spokesperson for the agency said they were continuing to review more than 300 individual online responses, 65 emails and 455 online map visits.

They said the feedback about the proposal had been "extensive, thoughtful and detailed".

"We also received several phone calls, written letters and took notes at one-on-one meetings with some affected landowners and Waipū business owners.

"We will present a redesigned proposal back to the community and key stakeholders, with preferred options based on what we heard from our early engagement. We will ask for feedback in response to the re-design."

The exact details of the redesign are yet to be revealed but alternative options are set to be made public early this year.