After years of crashes and "tonnes of near misses" a notorious stretch of highway just south of Rotorua is to get a $6.3 million safety upgrade.
The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) will begin construction on improvements to State Highway 5 this spring.
The NZTA began investigating speed through Waiotapu last November as part of a project to improve the stretch of highway between Wairakei and Rainbow Mountain.
Earlier this month two cars collided at the Waiotapu Loop Rd intersection leaving two people with minor injuries and a teenage girl admitted to Rotorua Hospital.
Following the crash Waiotapu resident Sandy Nicholls said improvements to the section of highway between Wairakei and State Highway 38 could not come soon enough.
A car came straight through the fence of Waiotapu Tavern. Photo/Supplied
Mrs Nicholls said the best thing that could be done was lower the speed limit.
"A lot of it is that people don't come out of the side roads fast enough, they think they have time but they don't, and with 100km/h road speeds other people don't have time to slow down," she said.
"We have trucks that are sitting on their horns all the time. It's quite scary, we just keep waiting for the crash."
A car which broke through the Waiotapu Tavern fence during a serious crash. Photo/Supplied
Waiotapu Tavern manager Kim Singh said every day she heard horns beeping for near misses.
"There's no visibility on these intersections and no time for cars to slow down," she said.
"They need to be going slower before they get here."
NZTA highways manager Niclas Johansson said he wanted to see the 47km section of State Highway 5 safer for everyone who used it.
"Community engagement for this section of the highway began in December and is ongoing," he said.
"The Waikite Valley Rd intersection, in the Waiotapu settlement, is part of the scope for this project."
NZTA identified three sections of the highway where there were a high number of crashes and said the mix of road users, tourists, commercial vehicles and locals made the road more complex.
In the 10 years between 2006-2015 there have been 35 serious crashes. Twelve people died and 42 people were seriously injured.
Mr Johansson said reducing speed through the township to lower than the current 100km/h speed limit was the preferred option.
"Options for changing the layout of the intersection are being considered and these will be presented to the community later in the year," he said.
Project manager Jeremy Froger said he had a good understanding of the issues at the intersection and along that stretch of highway.
Stop barriers prevented this driver running off the road, a safety measure the NZTA want to see in more areas of SH5. Photo/Supplied
"We want to improve the safety of the highway by installing semi rigid road safety barriers at high-risk locations to prevent vehicles running off the road," he said.
"We also want to widen some shoulders, add widened centrelines, make minor intersection improvements and look at options around speed management."
The improvements come as part of the Government's Safe Roads and Roadsides programme which aims to prevent 900 deaths and serious injuries on rural state highways over the next 10 years.
For more information visit nzta.govt.nz/sh5-to-sh38.
SH5: Wairakei to SH38 safety improvements There are three sections of the highway with higher crash rates. The northern end towards SH38, centrally around Mihi and the Waikato River, and at the southern end near Wairakei.
What are the issues with this road? The road is windy with narrow shoulders, which contribute to a high number of run off road crashes. The road is difficult for drivers to read and choose appropriate speeds for. Intersection visibility. A mix of road users - tourists, commercial vehicles and locals.
What are the proposals to make this stretch of the highway safer? Installing semi rigid road safety barriers at high-risk locations to prevent vehicles running off the road. Widening some shoulders. Adding widened centrelines. Making minor intersection improvements. Looking at options around speed management.
Isn't it better to run off the road than to hit a solid object like a side barrier? If a car or motorcycle runs off the road, it's safer to hit a side barrier than a hazard on the side of the road, such as a tree, fence, power pole or ditch. Side barriers reduce the likelihood of death and serious injuries from run-off-road crashes by 65 per cent.
