During 2024, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) improved the safety on State Highway 5 (SH5) from Napier to Taupō. This included widening the road shoulder, installing roadside safety barriers, painting new lines and a wider centreline to improve the safety at various high-risk curves.
NZTA is committed to creating a roading network that enables people and goods to get to where they’re going safely and efficiently.
SH5 between Napier and Taupō is a critical link between Hawke’s Bay and the upper North Island. We’ve improved the safety of this important corridor by carrying out works to widen the road shoulder, install roadside safety barrier and paint new lines and a wider centreline to improve the safety of various high-risk curves.
This $13 million safety improvement project aims to improve the safety of a number of high-risk curves on SH5, as well as the Tarawera slow vehicle bay. Construction started in January 2024 and was completed in December 2024.
NZTA developed a Programme Business Case to identify and develop long-term improvements on SH5. This has been endorsed by the NZTA Board however is not funded. In the interim, this $13 million safety improvement project was approved to progress with an immediate programme of works identified by the community and the project team as critical.
We’re investing in cost effective, value for money safety improvements where they are needed most – on our highest risk roads. Cost-effective safety improvements such as wide centrelines and rumble strips are proven to be highly effective at preventing crashes where people are killed or seriously injured.
Centreline widening gives more space between you and oncoming vehicles to help prevent head-on collisions, while shoulder widening provides you with more space to navigate through and around high-risk curves, reducing the risk of loss of control. Roadside safety barriers stop your vehicle before you hit something harder – such as a tree or power pole or a ditch.
Find out more about how safety infrastructure works here:
CloseWhile Cyclone Gabrielle recovery works continue, improving the safety of our roads also remains a priority. These SH5 safety improvements had already been approved before the Cyclone, and Transport Rebuild East Coast (TREC) has capacity to do this work alongside recovery work to help make SH5 safer, more resilient and more reliable overall.
Transport Rebuild East Coast (TREC)
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Site Engineer Genald Sebastian (TREC), Supervisor Blair Davis (Hawke's Bay Civil Infrastructure) and Site Traffic Management Supervisor Daniel Bullivant (Traffic Management NZ) onsite as crews start work on shoulder widening on SH5 near Te Pōhue.
We have widened the road shoulder, installed roadside safety barriers, painted new lines and a wider centreline to improve the safety of various high-risk curves on SH5 between Eskdale and Waipunga.
Safety improvements were made at the following locations on SH5:
This safety improvement work is complete and traffic management is no longer in place.
In addition to safety improvements, TREC is doing recovery work at multiple sites on SH5. Keep up to date with projects and updates on
