Ahipara 'trap' catches another

POTENTIAL KILLER: Gerd Piroth surveys the semi-chicane on Ahipara's Foreshore Road, which he regards as a dangerous trap for the unwary.

The Far North District Council says Gerd Piroth was the first to complain about a 'semi-chicane' on Ahipara's Foreshore Road. Mr Piroth, who lives at Opua, disputes that. He said last week that the concrete tongues that drastically narrow the road represent a potentially lethal trap for the unwary motorist.

Mr Piroth said the concrete abutment that his car struck, one of three over a short stretch of Foreshore Road, at 2pm on a sunny day had been all but invisible given that it was totally shaded by a nearby tree. The collision wrecked a brand new tyre, and may have done other damage to his vehicle, but he believed it could have been much worse.

A motorcyclist striking the abutment could well die, he said, while a motorist's natural reaction upon seeing it at the last moment would be to pull right to avoid it, potentially into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

The abutment reduced the width of the lane from seven metres to 2.5 metres, he said, and while it might well be effective in slowing traffic, as it was intended to do, it was a real danger to vehicles and their occupants.

"There are no road markings, no warning at all," Mr Piroth said.

"If you don't know it's there you just suddenly come upon it, even in broad daylight, thanks to the tree that shades it, particularly if you are driving into the sun."

On the afternoon of his mishap he had not had the option of pulling right, as another vehicle had been approaching from the opposite direction.

The district council had told him that he was the first to complain, but he doubted that. And even if that was the case, he had certainly not been the first to hit the abutment. Nearby residents who had come out when they heard the bang had told him vehicles were hitting the concrete lip on a regular basis. One said his had been the fourth so far this month.

The first person he had made contact with at the council told him it had happened to him, while a person (who did not wish to be named) at a Kaitaia tyre shop had told him motorists were regularly turning up with damaged tyres after suffering the same experience.

The engineer who had designed it had told him that his was the first complaint in the two years since the abutment was installed, however.

"I don't believe that," Mr Piroth said. "And even if it is true, it is still a problem and a danger to motorists.

"The accident I had could have been nasty, even fatal. That hasn't happened yet but I would not be surprised if it does. It's not like this is some small side street. It's a main road that is used by a lot of tourists."

Mr Piroth voiced his concerns to Far North District Council roading engineer Marius Gabriels on-site last week, Mr Gabriels saying the abutments were designed to slow traffic on a road where hazards included a lot of pedestrians, and that they had been very effective at achieving that.