Cyclone Gabrielle: Motorists need to adapt while congestion has grip over Hawke’s Bay roads

Signs, one placed by a member of the public and one placed officially, imploring drivers on the often congested Hawke's Bay Expressway to 'merge like a zip'. Photo / Ian Cooper

The search for solutions is ongoing as congestion continues to keep its tight grip on roads between Napier and Hastings a month after Cyclone Gabrielle.

With Brookfields Bridge and Redclyffe Bridge collapsed, the number of passages between the two towns has narrowed down from five to two primary routes for the past few weeks - the Hawke’s Bay Expressway and State Highway 51.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has attempted to improve traffic flow on State Highway 51 by closing the northbound lane of Farndon Rd to all but residents.

A post on the Hasting District Council Facebook page explained that there was a bottleneck and significant queueing caused by where Farndon Rd merged with State Highway 51.

The post claimed that there had been a “significant improvement overall” to traffic flow since the closure, but some commenters online disagreed.

An HDC spokesman said Waka Kotahi is managing the closures on to and off State Highways.

“The effectiveness of the traffic management is being monitored by Waka Kotahi and operations will change as and when congestion can be improved,” the spokesman said.

A Waka Kotahi spokeswoman said capacity across the network was still much lower than it was be pre-cyclone on both state highways and local roads.

“The Waitangi bridge is still under a 30km/h speed restriction, which is impeding the traffic flow on State Highway 51,” the spokeswoman said.

“With the Redclyffe bridge being impassable, one of the main routes between Napier/Taradale and Hastings is also currently not an option for road users.”

The spokeswoman said Waka Kotahi was monitoring traffic data and working with contractors and councils on practical measures to ease congestion in the short term and long term.

“In the meantime, we are grateful for everyone’s patience and we continue to encourage people to avoid unnecessary travel, particularly at peak times, to help keep the road clear for those who need to travel, such as emergency services, doctors, nurses and those involved in repair work around the region.”

Automobile Association Hawke’s Bay district chairman Paul Michaelsen said there was a general congestion issue, but Waka Kotahi and local councils were doing their best to address it and the roading.

“Unfortunately it is what it is, we’ve been knocked around by Cyclone Gabrielle,” Michaelsen said.

“We should just let the councils do what they have got to do because in my opinion they are doing a fantastic job at the moment and that is backed up by Napier-Taupō road having its first convoy and the hope that it may be open to the public at the end of the month.

“There will be a time in the near future where we start to sit down and look at what can be done going forward, what changes may be needed, what roads do we put a bit of emphasis on in regards to repairs.”

He said people will have to find ways to adapt to the traffic conditions in the meanwhile.

“People probably need to think about their travel plans, have a talk to their employers about whether they can actually look at either starting earlier, finishing earlier or starting later and finishing later to get them outside those peak periods.”

He said he works out of a home office in Havelock himself, but he has clients in Napier that he visits.

“I have converted some of them to zoom meetings so I don’t have to travel at peak times, or I have asked clients whether I can come in a bit later to avoid peak times.”