7 September 2021
An investment of $36 million on safety improvements on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway during the 2018–21 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) has made it safer for everyone who travels along the road.
Two new roundabouts have been built, median and side barriers installed and the road shoulder widened along the stretch of highway from Bayview to Pakipaki where in the last decade there had been 10 deaths and 46 people seriously injured.
Before the new roundabout was built, the Watchman Road intersection with State Highway 2 (SH2) was one of the most high-risk intersections in New Zealand. Now it’s much safer and the roundabout has improved traffic flow.
Watchman Road intersection.
This project also preserved the wetlands in the area. And to reflect the region, the roundabout was designed to represent the Kuaka (Godwit) a migratory bird that touches down locally in spring. Visible from the air, the roundabout is the Kuaka eye and the traffic islands form the beak.
This roundabout project won the award for Best Public Works Project over $5 million at the Institute of Public Works Engineers Australasia New Zealand Excellence Awards held in June 2019 and a Civil Contractors New Zealand award for projects $5 to $20 million in the following August.
Much of the Watchman Road project’s success was down to feedback from the community and stakeholders. A Connection Group of local community members, estuary protection advocates and Mana Ahuriri was created as part of this project.
The project was funded by Waka Kotahi, Napier City Council and Hawke’s Bay Airport.
Wider expressway improvements introduced Hawke’s Bay’s first flexible median barriers, which run along the centre of the road. Twenty-four kilometres of these were installed as part of this work.
Initially there was some resistance from local people, but this is changing as people who survive what could have been head-on crashes tell others about their brush with a serious crash.
When fitted along the side and centre of the road, flexible barriers reduce the number of deaths by up to 90%.
An additional $53 million will be invested in safety improvements in Te Matau-a-Māui | Hawke’s Bay region as part of the 2021–24 National Land Transport Programme.
