Emergency services may face slower journey times on SH2 if median barriers installed

Mike Williams is concerned about emergency callouts along SH2 with median barriers being installed. Photo / Rebecca Mauger

Concerns have been raised about median barriers between Ōmokoroa and Katikati and what this means for emergency service response and access.

Approximately 14km of median barrier will be installed along State Highway 2, with the first 6km section to be installed by mid next year.

In some instances, emergency services will have to travel further to reach roundabouts to get to accident sites.

An ex-firefighter, who did not want to be named, says he can see issues for fire trucks getting past traffic with median barriers, especially when traffic is at a standstill along SH2.

“It’s already a problem for services to reach where they need to go on a congested highway.”

He’s seen Facebook posts of emergency vehicles struggling to get through SH2′s heavy traffic - and that’s without barriers, he says.

“Those extra minutes travelling to roundabouts may be the difference between life and death. And with lines of stopped cars... I don’t know how it’s going to work.”

Ex-councillor Mike Williams, who lives close to Work Rd, voiced his concerns (Katikati Advertiser, July 27) for those who live along the stretch in terms of the extra distance, petrol, the environment and emergency callouts.

“These will create life-threatening time delays for emergency services to attend callouts. A heart attack victim on Work Rd would be delayed by a minimum of six minutes for an ambulance coming from Katikati,” Mike says.

Distances between each roundabout along the section are (heading north) Apata Station Rd to Pahoia/Esdaile Rd (2.5km), Lockington/Matahui Rd to Morton Rd (2.9km), Sharp Rd to Lockington/Matahui Rd (3.1km) and (heading south ) Rea/Tetley Rd (1.9km), Morton Rd to Apata Station Rd (3.8km) and Pahoia/Esdaile Rd to Ōmokoroa Rd (2.1km).

But national emergency services do not expect problems.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) spokesperson says they will dispatch the closest truck when there is an emergency.

“In this case, it is unlikely the installation of these barriers will affect our response times,” they said.

A police spokesperson says they don’t anticipate the roading development to affect their service to the public.

“Western Bay of Plenty Police deploy staff with local roading developments in mind, to the nearest available officers to an emergency incident,” they said.

Hato Hone St John acting area operations manager Debbie Grant says they do not anticipate the roading project to impact their response capabilities.

“Waka Kotahi [NZ Transport Agency] keep Hato Hone St John well-informed about planned road works, including road closures, disruptions, and delays, allowing us to adjust our response and minimise the chance of encountering problems along the way.”

They are also in regular communication with police and Fenz when responding to incidents, she says.

But not every accident is going to nicely placed along the road, Mike says.

Accidents can be shrewn across the entire lane, especially when trucks are involved.

Services would at times have to access the other side of the highway if one lane is blocked, he says.

And there’s not always a line of traffic perfectly pulled to the left to allow them through, either.

“The emergency services have ignored the extra time they will need to get to an incident. These are life-threatening minutes they’ll be spending to reach the next roundabout to turn around.”

Waka Kotahi’s Rob Campbell says they understand that the addition of median barriers is going to require some adjustment to the way people use the highway and adjoining roads “but there is no evidence that anyone’s safety will be compromised”.