Opinion: 81 crashes in 10 years, and still this Hawke's Bay intersection isn't bad enough to hit NZTA's radar

The Awatoto Rd intersection with State Highway 51 was blocked off after Friday's crash.

It is a wonder there are not more accidents at the Awatoto intersection that left a woman in a critical condition on Friday.

Thankfully, over the weekend, her health has improved and she has moved from a critical to stable condition.

At least two other victims are also recovering. Meanwhile, the intersection remains in a condition many motorists consider to be critical.

Each morning, motorists turning on to State Highway 51 (formerly SH2) run a gauntlet of traffic hazards.

Turn left toward Napier, and your view toward oncoming traffic from your right is obscured by other vehicles trying to move onto SH51, forcing motorists to creep into the left turning lane prematurely, sometimes blindly.

Turn right, and many motorists zap across into the outside lane that also doubles as a passing lane, for traffic streaming toward Clive from Napier.

Throw in the fact that a portion of the intersection floods every time it rains (does someone need to unblock a stormwater drain, because it floods 80m-100m down the road near the fertiliser works as well) and you have several complicating factors.

Friday's crash was near the Maraenui Golf Club and at the intersection of Awatoto Rd and SH51.

The road was closed between Ellison St and Waitangi Rd for roughly three hours as crash investigators poured over the scene.

Maraenui Golf Club manager Phil Carew reckons the intersection needs its speed limit cut.
He points out that, "The area has really grown in recent years and traffic is building with it and it's causing a bit of havoc."

He's right - the area is growing as subdivision spreads west, just north from the golf course. That means more people using the intersection.

It also means drivers avoiding SH51 by cutting through Te Awa Ave, which runs parallel to the highway but with a much lower speed limit. And not all of them are adhering to the limit.

An NZ Transport Agency spokesperson said it does not currently have any work planned at the intersection, but it says it is open to ideas from the general public.

According to NZTA's own statistics, there were 81 crashes from and including 2009 to 2018 on the section of SH51 that runs through Awatoto - from Ellison St in Napier to Waitangi Rd.

Among those were four fatal crashes, five serious and 72 minor crashes.
That's eight crashes every year - and four people killed in 10 years.

Obviously, that's not enough people being killed or injured to warrant a closer look at the intersection.

Here's an idea for NZTA. A lot has changed in Awatoto in 10 years.

Maybe we should take a proactive look, prompted by common sense, at this intersection now, rather than a reactive analysis tinged with death?