80kmh speed limit 'like sticking plaster on disaster' highway south of Whangārei

Tuesday, 30 April 2019

Take a ride on State Highway 1, heading north to Whangārei, where the roadworks are causing congestion. Video first published April 2019.

Locals are less than impressed with a two-year 80kmh speed limit on State Highway 1 south of Whangārei, calling it 'too little too late'.

The NZ Transport Agency advised on Monday the speed limit on SH1 would be reduced between Maungakaramea Road and Toetoe Road from 100kmh to 80kmh.

The reduced speed will remain in place during the SH1 Loop Road Safety Improvements project - which includes building a new roundabout - due to be finished in 2021.

State Highway 1 south of Whangārei will be restricted to 80kmh until 2021 when the Loop Road roundabout is finished.

But local residents, who drive the road each day, say the speed reduction does little to address concerns of congestion and safety.

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Portland resident Max Belcher wants better planning for State Highway 1 south of Whangārei.

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NZTA Acting senior project delivery manager Karen Boyt says safety is the top priority for the roadworks south of Whangārei.

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Max Belcher, a representative of the Portland Residents and Ratepayers Association, said SH1 south of Whangarei was 'a disaster'.

'It needs severe looking at because it's a critical road - it's not only the speed limit,' he said.

'80kmh will probably help but it won't solve the problem,' he said. 'It's like painting rust.'

Congestion around the Loop Road roadworks was 'progressively getting worse', Belcher said.

At 8.30am on Tuesday, the 10km drive took approximately 25 minutes, with traffic crawling past the construction site.

Belcher said the Loop Road roundabout was being built to help logging trucks turn onto SH1 but, by the time the work is finished in 2021, logging truck numbers will be less as logging in the area will have finished.

Not enough was being done for the Portland Road intersection, just up the road, where heavy trucks turned to get to Portland Cement Works, he said.

There was also nothing being done to replace the narrow two-lane bridge by Oak Road - which was only one of two places where heavy trucks could access Northland, Belcher said.

And that is not to mention the parts of low-lying highway which were under threat from sea level rise, he said.

'There's a lot more to this. Unless they put some money into the whole of the roading area, then they're not achieving what they hope to achieve, it's only a stop-gap.'

Belcher said he wanted to see a long-term transport plan for the whole area south of Whangārei, which was rapidly growing.

The solutions should include consideration of road, rail, boat and airplane transport, he said.

But the NZ Transport Agency said the SH1 Loop Road Safety Improvements was just one of a number of improvements planned for SH1 south of Whangārei.

In October 2018, NZTA announced it would do short-term safety improvements between Whangārei and Port Marsden Highway (SH15) to make it safer, such as roadside barriers, median barriers, centre line widening and improved road marking.

At the same time, it will future-proof a new route between Whangārei and SH15. No timing for this new road was announced.

Acting senior project delivery manager Karen Boyt said the $27 million SH1 Loop Road Safety Improvements included the single-lane roundabout at Loop Road (north) and intersection improvements at the SH1/Portland Road intersection.

Work started in March.

While traffic management plans take account of peak traffic times, congestion was not the main priority for NZTA when it comes to speed limits, she admitted.

'The safety of our people and our customers is our top priority,' she said.

Electronic messaging boards were in place on SH1 to advise drivers to reduce their speed, allow additional journey time and alert them to roadworks ahead, Boyt said.

The new 80kmh restrictions will be put in place on Tuesday night, weather permitting, after rain prevented new lane markings being painted on Monday night.