Truck driver Tony Alexander, left, pictured with Lawrence Yule, Katie Nimon and Chris Bishop said the announcement is "a good start." Photo / Warren Buckland
Truck driver Tony Alexander, left, pictured with Lawrence Yule, Katie Nimon and Chris Bishop said the announcement is "a good start." Photo / Warren Buckland
National has vowed to spend $200 million to fast-track safety improvements on the Napier-Taupō Rd (State Highway 5) if it is elected to Government.
It would be part of a $300m Hawke's Bay transport package that will also four-lane part of the Hawke's Bay Expressway and improve safety on State Highway 2 between Napier and Wairoa.
National's Transport spokesman Chris Bishop revealed National's commitment alongside Tukituki MP Lawrence Yule and National's Napier candidate Katie Nimon at Eskdale on Monday morning.
Bishop called the Napier-Taupō Rd a "death trap" and said it urgently needs upgrading.
"The Government claims to have made road safety one of its top priorities but says there is no money for major capital works between Napier and Taupō. That's not good enough."
The Napier-Taupō road has claimed eight lives in the past year. The road has seen 321 crashes since the start of 2016.
Truck driver Tony Alexander has been driving on the road for about eight years full-time and describes it as "a patchwork quilt" and "garbage".
He's had a couple of near-misses on the road and said both the road and driver behaviour are issues.
He said the announcement is "a good start" on a road which had been neglected for about five or six years in favour of roads in the largest population centres under the previous National Government's Roads of National Significance policy.
Bishop said SH5 was the only highway link between the central North Island and Hawke's Bay region, making it particularly important for freight, including access to the Port of Napier, as well as tourism.
Bishop said National would also upgrade the Napier to Wairoa section of State Highway 2 where there were 21 deaths and 56 serious injuries between 2005 and 2015.
The road needs more safety barriers, seal widening and improvements to its surface to reduce the risk of head-on crashes, Bishop said.
National would also urgently four-lane the Hawke's Bay Expressway between the Links Rd roundabout and Meeanee Rd overbridge which Yule described as its most congested section.
The SH5 upgrade would cost roughly $200m, the Hawke's Bay Expressway about $35m and the remaining would cover the SH2 upgrade, Bishop said.
Road Transport Association area executive for Hawke's Bay Sandy Walker said they welcomed the announcement for SH5 which had been "very much" neglected.
There have been 321 crashes on the Napier-Taupō Rd since the start of 2016. Photo / Paul Taylor
The ranges and topography of the road resulting in tar seal bleed over summer which doesn't cool overnight, he said. Then snow and frost in winter made it dangerous in all seasons, he said.
"What we need is proper money spent on the road to make it fit for purpose rather than being held to a budget."
Bishop said National would order NZTA to improve the surface seal of the road and fix potholes then over the next few years would retrofit median and roadside barriers, re-engineer and straighten dangerous corners, install new passing lanes, widen shoulders and install further safe turning opportunities.
It would investigate realignments at Tarawera Hill, Kowaro-Te Haroto, Te Haroto-Windy gap, the Te Pohue curve and the Te Pohue golf course-Mistletoe deviation, he said.
"Frankly, it's the sort of shovel-ready project that we should be getting on with right now."
Bishop said National was not opposed to "sensible speed limit reductions" in some parts where there is community support, but is opposed to "blanket, wholesale reductions".
Yule said there was a three-year timeframe for National's $300m package, with resurfacing of SH5 and work on the expressway beginning immediately.
Business cases for major capital works on SH5 and the upgrade of SH2 would need to be investigated.
