Bay of Plenty roads: SH2 speed limit to revert to 100km/h

SH2 Te Puna. Photo / George Novak

State Highway 2’s speed limit between Katikati and Te Puna will revert to its former speed of 100km/h by July 1.

The speed change on the 24km of SH2 from south of Marshall Rd to east of Loop Rd follows recent public consultation, NZTA said in its latest corridor project update.

“Earlier this year we consulted to find out public support levels for keeping current speed limits for SH2 between Katikati and Te Puna.

“The majority of feedback received from the community and road users was not in support of retaining the lower speed of 80km/h for this route, with 61% in favour of the speed reverting to 100km/h.”

NZTA said the speed reversal was in line with the Setting of Speeds Limits Rule 2024, which legalised the Government’s expectation that speed limits on NZ roads would be managed in a way that supported economic growth, boosted productivity, and enabled people to get to where they were going quickly and safely.

The rule allowed for lower speeds to be kept on rural connectors and interregional connectors if the majority of road users and local communities supported retaining lower speeds, said the roading agency.

“In light of this change, NZTA will continue to assess the safety of the state highway corridor including at intersections, balancing the considerations of local residents with the safety of all SH2 road users.”

When SH2 reverts to 100km/h, the speed limit for heavy vehicles and towing vehicles will be 90km/h.

The speed limit for State Highway 2 was changed after a 2019 public consultation by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA), when there was a significant public push to make the highway safer, including a public protest, NZTA media manager Natasha Utting said in an email.

“In December 2020, the speed was lowered from 100km/h to 80km/h between Katikati and Te Puna as it was one of the highest-risk roads in the country.”

“This stretch of SH2 has undergone safety improvements since then, including road widening, wide centre lines, intersection improvements and median and side barrier sections,” Utting said.

In the 10 years before the speed reduction, 18 fatal crashes and 46 serious injury crashes occurred, according to NZTA.

State Highway 2 was once a rural road that passed through a few settlements and had since developed into a commuter and freight route, Utting said.

“This increasingly busy road currently has around 15,000 vehicles travelling through Katikati and increasing to more than 20,000 vehicles a day further east to Te Puna, with many intersections and driveways with direct access on to SH2.”