Shaw Road residents near Whakatāne say Waka Kōtahi's safety improvements to State Highway 30 will do nothing to alleviate what they consider to be 'a very dangerous intersection”.

Noel Christensen has put together a submission to transport agency Waka Kōtahi signed by 90 per cent of those residents.

Noel says his biggest concern is with the left turn out of Shaw Road onto a 100kmh state highway.

He says no other high-density residential subdivision between Whakatāne and Tikitere or between Whakatāne and Tauranga exits and enters from a 100kmh state highway.

'A median barrier would make no difference to how dangerous this intersection is.”

Noel, who has a good view of the intersection from his home, has counted vehicles headed toward Whakatāne on SH30 go past the intersection and says it varies from 22 vehicles a minute at quiet times to more than 40 a minute at peak times.

He has calculated that this amounts to a window of between 1.2 and 3 seconds for a car pulling out of Shaw Road to achieve 0kmh to 100kmh between the passing cars.

He says everyone he has talked to has witnessed drivers taking risks when pulling out, due to frustration.

Waka Kōtahi's plans to lower the speed limit to 80km/h will do little to help, he says.

'It needs to be at least 60kmh.”

Ideally, Noel would like to see a roundabout at the intersection, or failing that, a merging lane.

He has provided several suggestions about how this could be achieved.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency's proposed safety improvement plans for the highway between Whakatāne and Awakeri includes median barriers and no-right-turn intersections on 10 side roads, including Shaw Road, along with roundabouts on the intersections of Thornton, Te Rahu and White Pine Bush roads.

The changes will mean all traffic wanting to turn west out of Shaw Road will first need to drive 1.5 kilometres eastward to the nearest roundabout to turn around.

Traffic wanting to turn into Shaw Road from the east will first have to travel just over one kilometre past their homes and return via the new Thornton Road roundabout.

This inconvenience is another concern voiced in Noel's submission.

'I have carried out some time trials and found that the new route would add at least two minutes to the journey from the town centre to my house.”

Noel Christensen has gathered over 120 signatures, which amounts of 90 percent of people living in the Shaw Road development, for his submission to Waka Kōtahi New Zealand Transport Agency. Photos Troy Baker.

Noel suffered a heart attack at his home last year and says he may not have lived if the ambulance had not been able to get him to hospital as quickly as it did.

'If my wife had to watch the ambulance go right past our house, so it could turn around a kilometre down the road, she would have had a heart attack herself.”

Noel delivered his submission to 68 letterboxes in the community before Christmas, after he received a letter from Waka Kōtahi about its proposed changes.

He asked that any licensed drivers in the household sign the document and return it to him if they agreed with it. He received 122 signatures from 61 households.

'I haven't even spoken to about 70 percent of them.

'I can't actually understand how consent was given to build the Shaw Road development with that intersection the way it is,” says Noel, who has had past experience opening a tourism business on farmland off a state highway in the Taupō district.

He says Waka Kōtahi and the Taupō District Council had him 'jumping through hoops” to create a safe turn-off for visitors before he was given consent.

Adding to his concerns is that there are still 10 uninhabited sections in the subdivision and the potential for further development on neighbouring land.

'I've been told there could be as many as 30 more homes built there eventually, which will add many more motorists to those using the intersection.”

Whakatāne District Council development and environment services general manager David Bewley says the original Shaw Road subdivision application was accompanied by a traffic assessment from a traffic engineering company and written consent from the New Zealand Transport Agency, now Waka Kōtahi.

'Both documents specifically considered traffic impacts on the State Highway 30 intersection with Shaw Road.”

Although the council does not have any resource consent applications before it for development on land between the Shaw Road development and Julian's Berry Farm, the structure plan for the Shaw Road development did indicate that an internal-access road would be provided to support additional traffic from any future development.

'This potential road will allow traffic to flow to either Huna or Shaw roads to evenly spread vehicle movement onto the state highway.”

David says it's also likely that Waka Kotahi will take potential future development into account when working on its safety upgrades for the stretch of road.

Waka Kotahi Waikato/Bay of Plenty infrastructure delivery regional manager Jo Wilton says the current proposal for the design doesn't include a roundabout or merge lane for Shaw Road, but it will soon be looking for input from the public to help inform the final design.

'As part of the feedback on the design process, Waka Kotahi would like to hear from people about how they use and experience that intersection, as that provides important information for the team to consider.

'People who use these roads – such as those accessing SH30 from Shaw Road – have ideas and experiences that can help us, and it's important that any changes we consider fit with the way they use and access the road.

'All information gathered through this process will help inform our final designs. This includes this information provided by the Shaw Road residents.”

Public information sessions to share information and to hear from the public will be held in late March 2023. They will advertise these widely before they are held.

People can sign also up for updates at www.nzta.govt.nz/sh30awakeri2whk

-Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air