Safety project kicks off

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency wishes to update you on the SH2 Wainui to Opotiki safety improvements and what you can expect over the coming months.

As you may know, Waka Kotahi secured initial funding of $7.6 million which has allowed for the design of safety improvements for the project as well as construction of the first 8km section from the SH2 Wainui Road intersection to Ōhiwa Beach Road.

We have awarded the construction contract for the first section of the project. The successful tenderer is Splice Construction which is currently setting up on site.

Between Wainui Road intersection and Ōhiwa Beach Road we’ll be widening the road, sealing the shoulder, installing roadside safety barriers at high-risk locations, laying centreline and edge line rumble strips and new road marking.

Construction is scheduled to start mid-March and is expected to take approximately four months to complete, weather permitting. There will be seven working sites between Wainui Road intersection and Ōhiwa Beach Road.

To minimise traffic disruption during construction the contractor will work on a maximum of two sites at any time. Once a site is completed, they will move on to the next.

At times during construction there will be stop/go traffic management in place. You may experience minor delays as a result of the work and we thank you for your patience.

Please take extra care when driving through the work sites and follow any temporary speed limits and traffic management for your safety, and that of our road workers and other road users.

Under review: A speed assessment will be undertaken along this section of SH2 corridor

What about speed?

The introduction of safer speed limits is part of Road to Zero 2020-30, the Government’s road safety strategy, and aligns with the safe system approach. It acknowledges even responsible people make mistakes on our roads and aims to minimise the impact of those errors.

Waka Kotahi is currently identifying roads where safer speed limits could make a big difference in preventing deaths and serious injuries.

State Highway 2 between Paengaroa and Ōpōtiki has been identified as one of them.

By mid-2021, Waka Kotahi will complete a technical assessment of the current speed limits along this section of SH2. This assessment considers crash history, average vehicle speeds, volume of vehicles on the road and development of surrounding areas.

It also helps to determine if changing the speed limits is the best thing to do to improve road safety, where new speed limits might begin or end, and if any other safety improvements might be needed.

After the technical assessment is completed, and if it determines the current speed limits are not safe, there will be further steps to complete before changing any speed limits, including engagement and consultation with the community.

As part of this we will work closely with local government, our road safety partners and the community. Your local knowledge is vital to our speed review process.

Two other stretches of state highway have been identified and will be assessed. They are SH2 between Ōpōtiki and Gisborne and SH35 Ōpōtiki to Te Puia Springs. Timing for these assessments are yet to be confirmed.

Site blessing

Due to the region entering a Covid-19 Alert Level 2 in February, the original date for a dawn blessing was postponed. A small, private blessing led by the local Ringatu Church will be held on Friday 5 March, before the start of construction.

More information

For more information on the SH2 Wainui Road to Ōpōtiki project, or if you have any questions, contact Project Manager Malcolme Flattery at bopprojects@nzta.govt.nz