Linda Hall: Busy time on Bay roads

Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke's Bay Today.

I've been on annual leave for two glorious weeks. I did a bit of writing but it was a pleasure with no pressure.

I went to Taupo for a couple of nights where I went out on the lake on a beautiful evening to see some Maori carvings, went to the AC Baths, and ate out for nearly every meal.

I've also been out and about in Hawke's Bay. During the course of a working week my life revolves around home, work, the supermarket and the gym. I don't go very far afield.

So one thing that really struck me on my travels between Hastings, Napier, Havelock and just generally around both cities was the amount of traffic on the roads at the moment.

It's harvest time in Hawke's Bay and the roads are heaving with trucks carting bounty from farms, vineyards and orchards, logging trucks, and as always at this time of the year there are tractors and harvesters crawling along the side of the road.

It's great to see all this activity in the region but drivers need to be patient. I nearly got taken out on the way home from Napier last week. Coming toward me was a harvester with a long line of traffic behind it including trucks. A truck had pulled out to pass which was fine, I had slowed down and pulled right over to the centre line. But then the next truck in the line decided he had time to get past as well. I had to go right over in the merging lane to get out of his way.

Had there been a car coming from that direction which the truck driver would not have been able to see, it would have slammed right into the back of me.

I hope the driver got to where he was going on time because it could have well cost a life or two.

The other thing I noticed on my travels was the amount of road works. Everywhere you look there's people digging up the road. I know summer and autumn are busy times for road repairs but I don't think I've ever seen so much going on at once.

On the trip to Taupo one minute we would be travelling along at 100km and then suddenly there would be a sign saying "road works 30km".

You can hardly slam on the brakes and slow down to 30km in a few seconds, by the time you do it safely there's another sign that says "road works end 100km".

One roadside sign that amused me recently was on State Highway 2 and it said "Men Working Under Bridge".

I couldn't help but smile. Why did we need to know I wondered to myself? Should I toot to them?

There was no speed change but I wondered should I slow down just in case the men under the bridge had sensitive ears.

Perhaps commuters needed to know in case a workman popped up on the side of the bridge or maybe stepped out to stop traffic asking for a toll. I'm not sure, maybe someone can enlighten me.

Although busy roads can be frustrating it's good to see the Bay buzzing. This week will probably be even worse with thousands of people expected for the Horse of the Year. Hawke's Bay Showgrounds started filling up over the weekend for this fantastic event.

So have some patience out there while you are commuting and if you get a chance go along watch some of the events at the Horse of the Year.