Action taken by people upset with median barriers being installed on State Highway 2, near Katikati, has been reported to police.

SH2 side road residents upset with NZ Transport Agency’s decision to install the barriers on a stretch of the state highway have sprayed love hearts over road markings on the road.

A Wright Road resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, says NZTA is using old statistics.

“The road has been widened, speed limit lowered,” the resident says.

“They are disallowing access to side roads; all we are asking for is breaks in it to let us in. Work Road residents have at least an extra 7km to drive past their road, then double back, using the roundabout to disrupt the natural flow as people use it for a permanent “U-turn”, this is a safety issue in itself. It makes zero sense.”

The Wright Road resident worries about emergency services being able to reach a person in time.

They also worry about the fact that you would be unable to overtake, this means that if a tractor is in front going 30km the people behind must wait until the next roundabout.

In a letter to Transport Minister Simeon Brown, a Thompsons Track resident asks why the community and residents are not being listened to.

“Our emails to you all fall on deaf ears with no response. NZTA’s planning and consultation process is flawed with deceitful meetings, incorrect data and statistics, anything they want to get the outcome they want.”

NZTA says “Between 2009 and 2018 when our safety improvement project began, 24 people died and 65 were seriously injured on this stretch of SH2. 

“NZTA appreciates median barriers mean a change for some people, in terms of disruption to their current travel patterns,

“The analysis of these crashes shows most were caused by running off the road, head-on collisions, and intersection crashes. The safety improvements we are making are evidence-based road design."

“My view on the installation of these barriers remains unchanged. I have been opposed to NZTA’s impractical plan from the get-go and I still am,” says Coromandel MP Scott Simpson.

In response, NZTA director of regional relationships for the Bay of Plenty and Waikato, David Speirs says the people who sprayed over the road markings, are putting their lives at risk and endangering other road users by walking and lingering on a state highway in the dark.

“In addition - defacing a state highway with graffiti is an act of intentional vandalism, and is a criminal offence, and the action has been reported to NZ Police.”