Tina Jennen speaks about her head-on crash on SH2 between Tauranga and Waihi, a section of road where 42 people have been killed since 2000. / Video by Alan Gibson
Almost two years ago, Tina Jennen left her office in Katikati at 3 o'clock for a business meeting in Tauranga.
She turned onto State Highway 2 and 200m down the highway her Ford sedan and another car collided head-on. The driver of the other vehicle had fallen asleep at the wheel and suffered a punctured lung and knee injuries.
Rescuers found Jennen screaming amid a jumble of crushed steel and inflated airbags. There were fears the vehicle would explode, and a rescuer risked his life to enter the wreckage and fix a brace around her neck. She credits those rescuers and the airbags with saving her life.
"I will never be fully recovered," says the mother of four, who suffered a crushed right ankle and damage to her left ankle. She still has pain and stiffness. Technology permitting, she will have two ankle replacements.
The driver of the other car, Jennen said, was traumatised and very apologetic, which helped her family move forward for what was a "terrible, terrible, honest mistake".
National leader and Tauranga MP Simon Bridges calls the stretch of SH2 between Tauranga and Waihi the most dangerous road in New Zealand. Since 2000, there have been 46 deaths and 153 serious injuries.
In September this year, two people died on the stretch of road. A fiery crash between a car and a truck claimed one life, while in a separate crash a man in his 60s was killed after his car crossed the centreline and smashed into another vehicle.
Sean Lett, a member of the "Fix the Bloody Road" campaign heard the emergency sirens and knew it was another fatality.
"This road is no longer fit for purpose, and it hasn't been for years ... we need a four-lane highway all the way from Tauranga to Katikati. This is the only way to fix the road and cut our horrendous death toll," he told the Bay of Plenty Times.
Tina Jennen recovering at Tauranga Hospital last year after her accident. Photo / George Novak
Following a series of public protests, including a hīkoi in October that blocked the highway at the Wairoa Bridge, the NZ Transport Agency announced it would be proceeding with $101m safety improvements between Waihi and Ōmokoroa in the short and medium term.
It was not the new four-lane highway at the Tauranga end being sought by many and promised by the previous National government, but a new two-lane route and safety improvements in line with the Labour-led Government's vision for safer roads.
NZTA has also started designing and finding funding for similar safety improvements for the stretch of SH2 between Ōmokoroa and Te Puna, and planning a new highway between Te Puna and Tauriko. This will have two lanes rather than the four initially proposed.
Bridges said everyone agrees with safety improvements, but the huge growth around Tauranga requires a fundamental transport fix that improves safety and efficiency.
National Party leader and Tauranga MP Simon Bridges collecting petition signatures this year for imnprovements to local roads. Photo / George Novak
Jennen applauds the Government for taking a pragmatic approach to safety improvements, like installing median barriers that prevent head-on crashes.
But the American-born community leader said New Zealand was a small country with limited resources and roads that were not to the standard she was accustomed to driving on in the United States. She believes the answer to better roads, including a four-lane highway on SH2, lies in public-private partnerships (PPPs).
Her thoughts are mirrored by the Automobile Association's principal adviser Barney Irvine, who said the Government's road safety improvements made good sense and would make a meaningful difference.
But Irvine said the AA was concerned about the lack of firm plans for new roads and key projects, like the Tauranga Northern Link, Ōtaki to north of Levin and a new highway between Whangārei and Port Marsden. He said the Government had signalled these projects would eventually be built with two lanes, not four lanes, but made no commitments about when.
"We're left with a whole lot of unanswered questions, like how many deaths and serious injuries would delaying these projects cost us? How long will the existing roads cope with increased traffic volumes?" Irvine said.
Jennen compared the deaths on the roads with the local kiwifruit industry, which had to be accountable for the safety of workers, particularly around riding quad bikes. "That same standard isn't being applied on our roads that everybody is affected by. Let's focus on one goal so we can make people safe, whether they are on a kiwifruit orchard or on a highway," she said.
After the accident, Jennen chosea new job that required her to commute south on the four-lane Tauranga East Link toll road instead, which she described as a "night and day difference".
"I'm not driving to Katikati, it's just not worth it, not when you open the paper every other day and there is another serious incident."
Project: Waihi to Tauranga SH2
46 deaths and 153 serious injuries between 2000 and October 2018. Most deaths were caused by head-on collisions, crashes at intersections and people running off the road and hitting, trees, poles and deep ditches.
What's happening?
The safety improvements are taking place on a long, complicated and busy 40km stretch of SH2 from just south of Waihi to the Ōmokoroa intersection, north of Tauranga.
The project is split into 10 sections of 5km to 10km each to reduce delays and keep traffic flowing for motorists. One contractor is working north of Katikati and another south of Katikati.
Schick Civil Construction started at the Waihi end in October on a 4km section between Heath Rd and the Trig Rd intersection. This section is easy to get underway because no land or resource consents are required for the work.
Early work includes moving power lines for road widening, mapping and geotechnical work.
Work on the first section includes upgrading five intersections, road and shoulder widening and putting in a wide centreline, roadside safety barriers and a right-turn bay for Waimata School.
The next sections to get underway will be between Wharawhara Rd and Sharp Rd, and between Trig Rd and Athenree Gorge. NZTA hopes work will start in mid-2019. All up, 26 intersections will be made safe.
Each section will take about 18 months to complete, with all the improvements due to be completed in 2023.
