A_HBT16023306.JPG Locals wants more of Links Rd reduced below 100km, as it already is near the corner of Links Rd / Korokipo Rd intersection. Photo / File
A_HBT16023306.JPG Locals wants more of Links Rd reduced below 100km, as it already is near the corner of Links Rd / Korokipo Rd intersection. Photo / File
Residents and supporters of slashing the speed limit on a one-kilometre section of 100km/h highway near Napier are hoping more than a decade of waiting could end soon.
The State Highway 50 limit on Links Rd, between the Hawke's Bay Expressway and Waiohiki Rd, is 100km/h, apart from a 70km/hstretch towards the western end where it dissects the Napier Golf Club's Waiohiki course.
This sectional also includes a crossing between the 10th and 11th tee and the 17th and 18th coming in.
There are 24 homes and 26 businesses on the stretch where traffic flow has multiplied over the last decade.
The section also sometimes doubles as an expressway detour if the road between the Links Rd roundabout and the Expressway-Meeanee Rd interchange is shut down by crashes and breakdowns.
Waka Kotahi NZTA's drive to eliminate the road toll, and a SH50 speed review in 2023, has given supporters of the reduction fresh hope.
Businessman and Links Rd resident Paul Atkins believes the traffic flow has more than doubled over the more than 10 years since locals suggested cutting the speed limit.
The suggestion was first made during consultation over the installation of the Links Rd roundabout.
Growth has come from a mix of heavy traffic and speedsters, increased forestry and quarry traffic, lifestyle block growth and commuters between the road and Taradale businesses, and EIT.
A considerable proportion of increased traffic has resulted from the narrowing of the expressway lanes with the use of "cheese-cutter" wire-rope traffic separation, he says, saying many drivers detour on Links Rd to avoid expressway traffic bottlenecks.
New golf club president Ricky Mitchell agrees and has told members one of his goals is to help do something to protect the safety of the membership amid a growth spurt now passing 900, with the 70km/h limit between the fairways not enough.
He said there are motorists coming off Waiohiki Rd into Links Rd who "boot it" heading from the 70km/h zone to get up to 100km/h, and traffic in the opposite direction barely slowing down entering the slower zone.
He says most motorists are courteous towards golfers crossing the road, but there are some who use the grass verges to underpass stopped traffic, creating further risk to golfers.
Becoming more and more frustrated, and saying the flow of email traffic with authorities has also increased, Atkins called in Tukituki MP Anna Lorck, who wrote to the NZTA on behalf of residents and businesses and received a reply saying the issue would be considered in a SH50 speed review in 2023.
Tukituki MP Anna Lorck with residents and business owners of Links Road Paul Atkins, Jeanette Darwin, Dr Hugh Findlay, Ngaire Duncan, Margaret Gregory and Ross Duncan. Photo / Supplied
She said the residents are seeking an urgent meeting with NZTA so they can "understand why under the Road to Zero campaign their 1km of highway has been ignored" – while the agency last month lowered the speed limit on 76km of SH5 between Napier and Taupo, and late last year on a section of SH51 on the beachfront route between Napier and Hastings.
"I absolutely agree with their concerns," she said. "This group, who have been calling for change for more than 10 years, deserve answers and action."
