State Highway 51 improvements: One of Hawke’s Bay’s deadliest roads may become its safest

A wider road and flexible median barriers will soon be in place near Napier along what used to be one of Hawke’s Bay’s most deadly stretches of road. Photo / Paul Taylor

One of Hawke’s Bay’s most deceptively deadly stretches of road is well on track to be one of its safest roads by the middle of next year as improvements enter their second stage this month well ahead of schedule.

The $20 million State Highway 51 Napier to Hastings safety improvement project, part of the $2.9 billion Road to Zero programme, began in earnest in May of this year with side barriers, road widening and a flexible median barrier being installed from the Awatoto Rd intersection to the Waitangi Rd intersection, not far south of Napier.

That stage was completed in November, and work has now begun on widening the road and installing a flexible median barrier between Awatoto Rd and the Ellison St intersections.

Work also began on a roundabout at the SH51 and Awatoto Rd intersection last month and is 12 months ahead of schedule, with the first earthworks starting today.

All improvements are estimated to be complete by June 2024, according to a Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency spokesman.

From 2010 to February 2021, seven people were killed in fatal crashes along the Marine Parade to Awatoto section of SH51 alone (SH2 before August 2019) according to the agency.

Two of the deaths were from 2020 onwards.

Many more serious injuries occurred following crashes on SH51 between Marine Parade and Waipatu during that period.

The speed limit will be temporarily reduced to between 30km/h and 50km/h around the roundabout and road widening work, while the stage-one area closer to Waitangi Road will be returned to 80km/h.

Fulton Hogan project management team members Regan Mador-Leahy, Tony Price and Leroy O’Riley started the earthworks for the new SH51/Awatoto Rd roundabout on Thursday this week. Photo / Waka Kotahi NZTA

“The roundabout will be built off to the side of the existing state highway, minimising disruption to traffic flow. The road will then be realigned to meet up with the roundabout,” the Waka Kotahi spokesman said in a statement.

He said work on the roundabout has begun 12 months ahead of schedule thanks to a streamlined consenting process with Napier City Council and planning work with contractors, engineers and mana whenua.

The flexible median barriers are being installed to prevent head-on crashes.

“We know median barriers down the centre line are very effective because of the number of times they get hit. Every time this happens, a potentially fatal or serious crash has been prevented,” Waka Kotahi’s website said.

Most of the familiar Norfolk pines that line both sides of this part of State Highway will be unaffected by the work, but a few juvenile Norfolk pines near the location of the permanent roundabout will be removed. Photo / Paul Taylor

Waka Kotahi is working with a qualified arborist to ensure construction won’t hurt the health of the familiar Norfolk pines that line the sides of the road, most of which are under a protection order enforced by Napier City Council.

A physical tree protection zone is in place and staff and machinery are not permitted to enter.

However, a few juvenile Norfolk pines near the location of the permanent roundabout will be removed.

“While we had hoped to relocate these, the arborist has advised that this would not be successful due to the impact on their root system when lifted,” the Waka Kotahi website said.

“To mitigate the loss, Waka Kotahi, with the support of the arborist, will source replacement Norfolk pines to be planted alongside the new road alignment.”