SH2 danger in Pongakawa spurs petition

Shirley Spick lives on State Highway 2 at Pongakawa and says turning into and out of her driveway scares her because of the speed of vehicles on that stretch of road.

Terrified.

It's the only word Shirley Spick has to describe her feelings each time she leaves or enters her driveway off State Highway 2 near BP Pongakawa.

She says turning right is a dangerous manoeuvre, but so are the alternatives - turning left out of the driveway then turning around, or driving past her driveway then turning back to avoid a right turn off the highway.

"You sit there [in the road] waiting to turn into your driveway and a truck is coming up behind you - what do you do?"

She has lived in her home since 2003, and that year she was driving a ute that was hit, and pushed into the paddock in front of her house.

"I had my blinker on but he just didn't see it," she says.

She also says she is aware of nine road deaths since 2009 on this section of State Highway 2. She has seen many near-misses, has seen vehicles overtaking right-turning school buses and another family member was injured after being hit from behind and run off the road.

Shirley says the danger is the same for any of the residents of houses with direct access onto State Highway 2.

She is also concerned that the building of 22 new houses on land with access off Arawa Rd will increase the danger at the intersection of Arawa Rd and State Highway 2.

Shirley has finally decided that enough is enough and in February began collecting signatures on a petition calling for the reduction of the speed limit from 100km/h to 70km/h and more extensive yellow centre lines. The petition, carrying almost 100 signatures, has been passed to East Coast MP Anne Tolley.

Shirley says that when construction was being carried out nearby, the speed limit was reduced to 70km/h temporarily and it was much safer.

Maraea Coles, who lives on Arawa Rd, says she is concerned that school children stand by the edge of the road while waiting for the school bus and that high-school age students have to cross the highway and wait close to the edge of the road where the speed limit is 100km/h.

She says she has never seen traffic slow to the legally-required 20km/h when passing the school bus.

"If anything, they are just confused as they think the bus is turning [into Arawa Rd] but they are just stopping on the side of the road [to collect and drop off] and they are still on the highway," she says.

She, too, believes the building of additional houses will only increase the potential for an accident because of the likelihood of more children standing waiting for school buses and crossing the highway.

Concern over No1 Rd

Helen Potter, who lives on No1 Rd, is also urging the powers that be to consider the reduction of an existing speed limit.

Helen made a presentation to a recent meeting of the Te Puke Community Board arguing that the speed limit should be reduced on a portion of No1 Rd up to number 79, a section of around 220m between two blind bends.

She said that over time more and more houses have been built on this section of the road and the location of Trevelyan's packhouse and other businesses further up the road had led to an increase in commercial traffic, there were more pedestrians in the area and in places the shoulder is narrow and there is no footpath.