Auckland's most dangerous roads and how to fix them

Sunday, 20 October 2019

Social media star Johnny Danger crashed while on a group motorbike ride on Wednesday.

Dairy Flat Highway, Old North Rd and Whitford Rd have earned their place among Auckland's most dangerous roads. Sixty-three deaths and serious injuries have occurred on them in the last five years.

The roads are being targeted by Auckland Transport (AT), which has a goal of no deaths or serious injuries on the region's roads by 2050.

Joining them are Hobson St, Karangahape Rd and Symonds St, where 23 deaths and serious injuries have occurred.

Guiding AT's no deaths, no injuries 2050 goal is the 'philosophy' of Vision Zero.

Social media star Johnny Bennett was on of many fatalities on Dairy Flat Highway.

* Waiting for five years for road safety improvements on Dairy Flat Highway

* New strategy aims to reduce number of road deaths by 40 per cent**

Created in Sweden in 1997 and adopted by countries including Australia, most US states and the United Nations, it is founded on the principle that human life and health can never be exchanged for other benefits within society.

It does, however, not mean zero crashes.

This corner on Old North Rd, Waimauku, near the most northern intersection, is known to cause crashes.

Instead, it is a concept where deaths or serious injuries should never be regarded as an acceptable product of mobility.

As a leading expert in road safety in New Zealand, Fergus Tate of WSP Opus said it was important for transport system operators to have the 'balls' and 'conviction' to implement Vision Zero.

'It is about accepting we may lose a few seconds on our journey in order to save a life or prevent serious injury,' he said.

'None of us want to see our family die or be injured in pointless traffic crashes.'

Construction of the new Dairy Flat Highway/Coatesville-Riverhead Highway intersection roundabout is under way.

'DEADLY FLAT HIGHWAY'

Located between Albany and Silverdale in north Auckland, Dairy Flat Highway – or 'Deadly Flat Highway' as it is known by locals – has seen 32 deaths and serious injuries occur on it since 2014.

The number of deaths and serious injuries has seen the New Zealand Transport Agency include the highway in its top 1 per cent of roads needing safety improvements.

Dairy Flat Highway achieved notoriety in 2018 when it claimed the life of social media star Johnny 'Danger' Bennett on Anzac Day in a motorbike crash.

Locals have been waiting for safety improvements for more than five years.

A concrete truck is lifted out of the Mangemangeroa Gorge on Whitford Rd after it went off the bridge.

AT's work to make the highway safe include construction of a roundabout at the Coatesville-Riverhead/Dairy Flat Highway intersection, permanent speed limit reductions from 100kmh to 80kmh and various safety barriers.

OLD NORTH RD

On Waimauku's Old North Rd, 13 deaths and serious injuries have occurred in the last five years, with a 'slippery' and 'sharp' corner known to cause crashes.

In 2018, Rodney Local Board member Brent Bailey said a reduced speed limit along the road would be ideal.

'People drive too fast for the conditions. If they're travelling slower, that might help.'

Emergency services recover a motorbike from a steep gully involved in the Anzac Day 2018 crash.

Bailey said upgrading the roads camber and surface could also help.

Parts of Old North Rd were planned to reduce from 100kmh to 80kmh, AT said.

WHITFORD RD

Whitford Rd in East Auckland is seen as a crash hot spot, with 18 deaths and serious injuries occurring on it since 2014.

Local residents have been very vocal about the road, saying it is not good enough a route hundreds of children have to travel on every day to get to school is so treacherous.

The Karangahape Road upgrade will introduce bus and cycle lanes, with Auckland Transport aiming to improve the street environment (artist's impression).

Crash statistics provided to Stuff in 2018 by police show in the first three weeks of January there were at least 16 crashes on the 4km stretch of Whitford Rd, from Wades Rd to the roundabout at the intersection of Point View Drive and Somerville Rd.

Of those, 12, including one in which a young man was killed in a road crash on January 5, were recorded as happening in the Mangemangeroa Gorge area.

In April 2019, a truck driver was seriously injured after his concrete truck rolled down a bank near Mangemangeroa Gorge bridge.

Ninety per cent of the area where AT wants speed limits cut are rural roads as they are demanding and increasingly getting busier.

CITY CENTRE ROADS

Central Auckland's K Rd, Hobson St and Symonds St have seen 23 deaths and serious injuries occur in the past five years.

AT's speed limit bylaw, which will be going to the board on Tuesday, looks at cutting speed limits for lower K Rd, Hobson St and Symonds St.

K Rd itself was undergoing 'enhancements' which included widening footpaths, adding a cycleway and more bike parking, lighting and street furniture.

AT said 30kmh speed limits had been successful in Wynyard Quarter and Queen St.

Wynyard Quarter had averaged one death or serious injury per year between 2012 and 2017, but it had been zero since the 30kmh speed limit was introduced.

On Queen St, there had been a 36 per cent reduction in deaths and serious injuries since 2008.

Roads AT also saw as 'most concerning' included Coatesville-Riverhead Highway, Heights Rd and Waiuku Rd.