The 3km stretch of highway from the intersection with Awatoto Rd to a few metres north of the Ellison St intersection and southern entrance to Marine Parade has seen five fatalities in five separate incidents since the start of September 2018.
Two of the fatal incidents have involved trucks and cars, one a car crossing the road and hitting a tree, one a woman hit by a vehicle as she crossed the road with her bicycle, and one motorcycle and possibly another vehicle.
Two have involved vehicles crossing the road, and two are thought to have involved turning vehicles.
There have been other serious crashes within the 3km, and emergency services extricated a person from a vehicle after another crash near the Ellison St intersection last Thursday.
The narrow two-lane highway, with wire-rope barriers on either side for some of the stretch towards the Napier end, has been the subject of calls for the speed limit to be lowered from 100km/h to 80km/h. This would be in keeping with its role as a tourist route, as well as a connection from Havelock North and Clive to Napier and a major route between Napier and Hastings.
A resident of Te Awa Ave for 16 years, whose property backs on to the railway line and the highway, heard the "bump", and reacted immediately on Facebook with her frustrations about an apparent lack of action on improvements.
She told Hawke's Bay Today: "I cannot believe individuals are so anti slowing down traffic on one of our most dangerous roads."
She calculates "one in 5" vehicles entering the highway at the golf course (southern end) "selects the wrong lane" and many fail to slow down as they leave approaching the Ellison St turnoff to cross-city thoroughfare Georges Dr.
"I once heard it said that the pine trees drop a lot of dust and pollen over the dry spell and after the first rains in a while the road becomes slippery," she said. "I have noted that many of the accidents have happened after first rains over the years.
"I have contacted the transport people a number of times to reduce the speed limit but nothing ever happens."
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency regional transport systems manager Oliver Postings said the agency is considering options for improving safety on SH51, including looking at speeds, and expects to provide an update by the end of next month.
The agency says that with all serious crashes on the state highway network, the Police Serious Crash Unit investigates and the agency receives a report once the investigation is completed.
The NZTA investigates whether the road or road conditions were a contributing factor, and could not comment yet on causes of recent crashes.
Napier City Council has also been approached in relation to the future of the Ellison St intersection and other issues in the urban network in the area.
NZTA reported in May last year it was "investigating safety interventions" on the "Napier to Hastings corridor of SH51", saying it had looked at several options, including removing trees closest to the road.
There had been a lack of support for removing the trees and wire rope barriers were installed separating the closest trees from the highway traffic.
Since then users have asked whether the existing highway entering Napier could be for northbound traffic only, with a southbound lane installed on the reserve on the seaward side of the trees.
