Craig Little, Mayor of Wairoa
New Zealand’s roading network is going backwards rather than meeting the needs of the future.
Last Thursday, I travelled on State Highway 38, SH5 and SH2, specifically so I could compare these national state highways.
SH38 from Wairoa to Rotorua would have to be the worst State Highway in the country. How appalling that our people have to drive on a State Highway that has single lanes and is not tarsealed in many places. How can the Government expect communities to thrive when their health and safety is compromised because of a substandard highway that does not give them parity with the rest of New Zealand?
SH38 is the road of NZTA’s broken promises. It is like travelling through a third world country, and despite all attempts and efforts from the councils at either end of SH38, Waka Kotahi NZTA still refuses to seal the road.
I also travelled on SH5, Taupo to Napier, where I was interested in the road conditions and safety aspects, particularly considering the controversial changes to the speed limits. I honestly thought I was driving on a motorway. There were a couple of spots that could benefit from speed restrictions, but personally, I felt there were enough warning signs in the places that motorists needed to reduce their speed to then be able to travel the rest of the road at the 100kmh national speed limit. A blanket speed reduction on an entire stretch of road is just non-sensical.
The last leg of my journey was the notorious SH2 Napier to Wairoa. This journey was a patched quilt of potholes and orange road cones. And I know SH2 from Wairoa to Gisborne only gets worse. If SH5 is the benchmark for a reduced speed limit, then I shudder to think what SH2 should be reduced to — based on the condition of SH5 I would suggest 60kmh.
Now, NZTA has announced, with no engagement with the community, it will close State Highway 2 for the weekend of February 12 and 13 for repairs. Of course, the road needs repairing, and I am pleased this is occurring, but to block a State Highway for 11 hours each day is just ridiculous. There is no detour available during the closure which will take place between 7am and 6pm over the two days. The closure is a 30km section between the highway intersections with Aropaoanui Rd, at Tangoio, and Haliburton Rd, at Kotemaori. The section of road will reopen overnight from 6pm Saturday to 7am Sunday, with a 30kmh temporary speed limit.
I am assuming there have been allowances made for emergencies for if a plane or helicopter can’t fly?
How can you treat our people like this? Are Wairoa people really that low on your priority list?
We really have to ask ourselves what has gone wrong within NZTA? It is not meeting its obligations and rather than building roads for the future it is stepping backwards by totally isolating communities — that is not connectivity.
There seems to be a real disconnect between NZTA Waka Kotahi and central government and I am sick and tired of Wairoa bearing the brunt of it. The substandard condition of SH38 and entire weekend closures of SH2 certainly do not meet the Government’s requirements of the four wellbeings for our Wairoa people.
Generations of people have travelled these State Highways. We have gone from 100 years ago, when a journey from Wairoa to Napier took two days, to nowadays taking barely two hours. Unfortunately, under this present regime we seem to be turning the clock backwards.