AA slams 7km Mangatawhiri bypass plans

Plans to straighten part of the notoriously dangerous State Highway 2 across north Waikato do not go far enough, says the Automobile Association.

But Thames-Coromandel District Mayor Philippa Barriball has welcomed a proposed 7.2km bypass of Mangatawhiri village, saying it will get rid of one of the road's worst crash zones.

Transit New Zealand's board is to seek a $43 million grant for the bypass from state funding agency Land Transport New Zealand. It hopes to start construction by this time next year and finish by 2008.

AA spokesman George Fairbairn was disappointed to learn yesterday that only 3.2km of the bypass would run to four lanes, despite Transit's long-term vision of a 35km dual expressway all the way east from the Bombay Hills to the Thames turnoff at Mangatarata.

He called for more action on improving a key link to the burgeoning Bay of Plenty as well as the Coromandel and southern destinations through Matamata.

Transit's acting Waikato regional manager, Chris Allen, said continuous passing lanes on the eastern half of the bypass would give motorists plenty of chance to clear slow traffic.

He insisted the work would not prejudice longer-term projects, and would be followed by a similar bypass of Maramarua further east.

Transit estimates traffic volumes on the route - from 12,000 to 14,000 vehicles on most days and double that on holiday weekends - are increasing by 3 to 5 per cent a year.

Historian Michael King is one of the 30 people who have been killed on the road in the past five years. Its crash rate is 40 per cent higher than the national average for highways of its type.

Mr Fairbairn said Transit should "bite the bullet" to make more comprehensive improvements. He feared motorists would still take too many risks on such a short stretch of four-lane tarmac.

"They will suddenly speed up to get ahead before running out of lanes and we are going to have another problem area where they have to merge," he said. "There needs to be more progress on this, something more tangible than just a vision."

But Ms Barriball said the Mangatawhiri and Maramarua sections of the road were both bad black spots that had claimed far too many lives, and she was strongly encouraged by Transit's proposal.

"I absolutely welcome it - we have to start somewhere."

Mr Allen said a four-lane stretch of a similar length on the Tamahere Straight between Hamilton and Cambridge had "worked a treat" in eliminated crashes since opening in 1996.

The Maramarua bypass, due to be built from 2010, would build on the Mangatawhiri stretch to provide more passing opportunities.

It would be followed by a new four-lane stretch around Heaven Rd, between Maramarua and the Thames turnoff.