The trailer on a Mainfreight truck and trailer unit has tipped on SH5, resulting in the truck and trailer both blocking the road. Photo / Supplied
The trailer on a Mainfreight truck and trailer unit has tipped on SH5, resulting in the truck and trailer both blocking the road. Photo / Supplied
By Doug Laing
Some Napier-Taupo highway traffic was held up for as much as 10 hours on Tuesday after a pre-dawn crash blocked the road between Eskdale and Te Pohue.
Eastbound on the controversial State Highway 5 route, the Mainfreight truck and trailer crashed in wet conditions soon after 4.30am, on a downhill stretch near Eland Station, about 38km northwest of Napier.
Being north of Glengarry Rd, motorists were told by nationwide highways management agency Waka Kotahi NZTA there were no detours on the highway.
It said the only alternative routes available were via Gisborne and Palmerston North, although State Highway 2 and the winding and tortuous State Highway 38 (Wairoa to SH5 between Taupo and Rotorua, and the Gentle Annie (Fernhill to Taihape) were also open.
It was not till about 3pm that northbound traffic was also moving, the delay on Hawke's Bay's major access in and out and the NZTA's recent lowering of the speed limit on 76km of the highway, including the crash site immediately copping another rebuke from Hawke's Bay Regional Transport Committee chairman Martin Williams.
He said he was relieved that no one was injured, but the crash would highlight to the NZTA that crashes happen in all seasons and conditions.
The highway needed a full cost-crash analysis rather than the "sledgehammer to crack a nut" approach of dropping the speed limit from 100km/h to 80km/h as a fix-all ahead of investing in the highway to make it safe and reliable.
The lower speed limit, from Eskdale to the Rangitaiki Plains, has applied since February 18, and is currently subject of a petition to Parliament asking for the NZTA to reassess the situation.
The driver of the crashed truck was reported to be not injured, but the trailer hit a guard rail and overturned and the truck stopped upright but straddling both lanes, still coupled to the trailer, and meaning the road was closed to all traffic for about five hours until the southbound lane was reopened for traffic heading to Hawke's Bay.
Among it was a Taupo truck driver who was the second on the scene after the truck crash but after discharging his load in Hawke's Bay was back in a queue at Eskdale waiting for the northbound lane to be reopened before being able to hit the road back to Taupo about 3pm – about two hours after he would normally have expected to be home after his daily trip to Hawke's Bay.
On a daily trip he said he would normally have been back in Taupo by 1pm.
For some time there was concern about possible "hazardous substance" in the freight, but it was identified as cartons containing brake-cleaning fluid. Fire and Emergency crews investigated, and also helped with traffic control and other safety steps until leaving about 7.30am.
Police had left the scene to salvage and road-cleaning crews about midday although there were some concerns about the grease and oil which needed to be stripped from the highway in the vicinity of the crash.
SH5 road closed at Eskdale due to a truck overturning on the Napier-Taupo road. Photo Warren Buckland
Earlier, the Taupo driver told Hawke's Bay Today he came across the crash about 4.45am, saw "the mess", pulled over, checked to see if the driver was okay and found the paperwork to see what was on board so that emergency services could be advised.
"At that time of morning it's a busy road with trucks and forestry workers and people going up to the windmill job (Meridian Energy's Harapiki wind farm)," he said. "It's lucky no one else was caught up in it."
A crane will be brought in to right the trailer and free up the stuck truck. Photo / Supplied
Meanwhile, one person was taken to Hawke's Bay Hospital and reported to be in a serious condition after a car hit a power pole and a parked vehicle in urban Hastings on Monday
Police said the crash happened about 5.20pm in Frederick St, Mahora. St John Ambulance staff said one person in a serious condition and was treated at the scene and taken to the hospital in Hastings.
