North of Matea Rd, Rangitaiki has a multitude of patches on the road. Some are worse than the road was in the first place. They are breaking up, uneven and in some places where done on a corner, dangerous.
Areas have been resealed, but a portion of the road immediately before or after haven't, which is just as bad.
I'm not an engineer, just a truck driver behind a computer screen, but it seems only the bare basics are being done on our state highways.
Sure, $600,000 has been spent on barriers, rumble strips and markings on SH5, as NZTA manager Oliver Postings stated, but there's a corner as you head down the Titiokura hill towards Taupo that has had at least one fatal crash and a couple of injury crashes where cars have gone over a large drop.
What "protects'' people from going over? A white wooden fence. Just around the next corner, is a wire fence where another two died. At the bottom of Dillons Hill heading towards Napier, it's uneven, bumpy and although I'm not aware of any major crashes, it's just a matter of time. As you come off the Mohaka Bridge heading to Napier - uneven.
Then there's a pothole at Te Haroto southbound. It's been there for more than five years. NZTA says that it's never caused issues. Pretty much a Tui advert that one.
There are many places on this road that when wet, if you hit it the wrong way - it's going to throw you off line. If you're not ready for it, it kills. Within 24 hours of the fatal on March 6, there was another crash in exactly the same place.
These major things are not being fixed with associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter's $1.4 million "safety improvements". In my opinion as a professional driver, the barriers will save lives but in the case of the Hawke's Bay expressway, all it's done is slow traffic to a crawl.
Emergency vehicles have trouble getting through the narrow corridor now. This will also cost lives. We know that major improvements cost money. But along with spending money, comes an injection of funds into the economy.
Maybe it's time for the Government to start spending more to get these things done. But according to roading contractor Higgins, no capital works are scheduled on the Napier-Taupo Rd within the next 7-10 years. Which essentially means no straightening of corners, no extra passing lanes, only maintenance and scheduled resealing.
And even with the resealing, it seems that the dips, potholes and undulations are just covered over, not smoothed out. Nothing changes. If Genter and her cohorts are serious about safety, they're certainly not proving it by going for the improvements that make roads really safe.
Postings states "safety is our priority". If that was the case, there would be consultation with the people who travel this road every day. Once a year checking the surface by a truck that comes in from overseas isn't enough.
We, as professional drivers, know this road. We know every dip, every bump, pothole and can probably tell them what parts are dropping or becoming an issue - and there are a few.
One of the first things that could be done is better cell phone coverage. Very distinct dead spots on the Napier-Taupo Rd delay notifications to emergency services if there is a crash.
Signs all along the road advertise the highway information service direct to NZTA.
But when you call them on a windy night after a tree has come down across the road, as was the case last month and the contractors are sent to the wrong area leaving 50 odd vehicles stranded for five hours, what's the point?
Also more Variable Message Signs (VMS) need to be commissioned to notify people of potential problems. The stranding of these motorists could have been avoided if VMS signs were at Rangitaiki. There is one at the Taupo end but it is facing south so people heading south don't get any information other than a "closed" or "open" message.
In my opinion, the Network Outcome Contracts that NZTA implemented, are not working.
It only allows the contractors to do a certain amount of work each year. If something new pops up that needs to be fixed, the money for a repair that is already funded have to be diverted and the original fix or repair is delayed or not completed. If something major arises, the contractor has to apply for special funding from NZTA.
Never mind the economic impact when the road is closed for an emergency or a slip. I guess my message to NZTA and the Government is this. It is time that the whole community is consulted on what needs to be done. Stop trying to put Band-Aids on roads because funds are being diverted to big ticket items and very public "in your face" so-called safety improvements.
The Hawke's Bay Expressway is one of those. They could have got away with just a barrier down the middle of the road. Funds have been wasted on putting barriers down the sides? Can you now imagine the extra cost when they decide to four-lane it?
Listen to the stakeholders - you know, us little people out on the coal face.
We may not be engineers, but we know the road. We see the near misses. The barrier strikes, the skid marks, the deaths. I don't want to be in the middle of another fatal this year, knowing that I have spoken out, but was not heard.
• Antony Alexander is a truck driver
