Residents riled by truck route plan

Racecourse Rd residents have put signs out on the roadside detailing their concerns about the proposed traffic priority change.

Submissions have been flooding into the CHB District Council with Central Hawke's Bay residents airing their views on a proposal to divert future logging traffic through Racecourse Road in Waipukurau.

The prospect of logging trucks rolling through residential areas, as flagged in the council's current consultation on the 2015-2025 Long Term Plan, prompted the formation of the CHB Safer Transit Action Group (STAG) and saw protest signs spring up along Racecourse Road.

The group called for a public meeting to confront the council on a proposed traffic priority change that would divert traffic on to Racecourse Road at the intersection with Porangahau Road - including a projected 30 logging trucks a day.

Logging is about to begin in the Ernslaw One forest in Tararua and several forest blocks in Central Hawke's Bay - and the area's roads are the most direct route to the Port of Napier.

About 100 people attended a public meeting at the end of last month, eager for the council to inform them what other routes had been looked at and to express their views on the traffic diversion.

For STAG, the safety issues surrounding either option were paramount, secretary Robin Percy said. "This is very much an issue that will affect the whole of CHB, not just the two streets currently at the front of this."

At the meeting, concerns about safety along Racecourse Road, particularly for children and the elderly, were raised as well as the potential dangers of trucks having to negotiate the Tavistock Hotel intersection and Peel Street to get out of town.

Mrs Percy said the overwhelming sentiment at the meeting was that installing a traffic island at the intersection of the two roads was not going to make a difference.

"Our number one goal is to get the council to work with the truckies and other people to find a safer alternative route," she said. "We don't think spending $240,000 on an island is the right way to go."

She suggested that if there were no alternatives to using either or the Porangahau and Racecourse roads, the money would be better spent putting in traffic safety devices and measures to keep speeds down.

At the meeting, council roading manager Shawn McKinley said alternative routes diverting traffic on to State Highway 50 were likely to be rejected by the forestry owners, as they were uneconomic.

Suggestions the logs were transported by rail were also likely to fall on deaf ears.

"KiwiRail is not prepared to invest money - it's not economical for them, and it's a government-controlled company.

"We can lobby but there's not a lot we can do to change their mind," Mr McKinley said.

As of yesterday, 110 submissions had been received, with more expected before close-off tomorrow.