Median barriers making roads unsafe - Rural Contractors New Zealand

Rural Contractors chief executive Andrew Olsen.

Sally Murphy, RNZ

Rural contractors say median barriers are making roads unsafe and causing stress for those driving tractors with lines of cars behind them.

The issue was discussed at the Rural Contractors New Zealand conference in Masterton last Thursday, June 25.

The group’s chief executive, Andrew Olsen, said contractors driving tractors on long stretches of road are being abused and clipped by other drivers who can’t pass them because of the median barriers.

“We’ve got rural contractors having to do 7km runs on SH2 in Bay of Plenty where there are no areas to pull over or slow down, rural contractors in Waikato and other parts of the country are facing similar anger from motorists because of median barriers and no pullover space.”

In a push to increase road safety, Labour invested in median barriers to keep oncoming traffic separated.

Olsen said they were well intended but were causing some issues.

“Our members are telling us it’s becoming quite stressful because they’re travelling down the road in their tractors or machinery, which they’re entitled to do, and then they end up with dozens of cars with impatient drivers behind them.”

Olsen said the issue could be fixed with passing bays or areas where contractors could easily and safely pull over to let others pass.

“It’s tough where work has already been done to install the median barriers, but for any future work passing bays need to be considered.”

Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard, who attended the conference, told the audience he knew exactly what they were talking about because he sees the problem first-hand when he drives to Parliament from his Manawatū home.

Hoggard said median barriers prevent overtaking between Levin and Ōtaki and lack of shoulder space to allow vehicles such as tractors to pull over.

“There’s a lot of tractors trying to get in and out of paddocks, motorists were getting angry as a result, there’s lots of screaming, fingers out the windows and potentially stupid decisions being made.”

He promised to take up the issue of providing for slow-moving machinery with Transport Minister Simeon Brown.

Olsen said his organisation had written to Brown.

-RNZ