Kawerau weighs up cost of cutting highway speed

Kawerau District Council will go to the community for feedback about extending the 70kmh zone on State Highway 34 by the town.

This follows a recent report to the council that the move could cost Kawerau ratepayers an initial $93,000 and as much as $67,000 a year after that, in berm maintenance.

There was a real risk that New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) Waka Kotahi would not help fund this work.

The speed limit proposal was put forward by former regional councillor and Kawerau mayor Malcolm Campbell, at a meeting of the Eastern Bay of Plenty Road Safety Operations Group on February 18, just a few months before his death.

The proposal involved extending the 70kmh zone past the township a further 3.6 kilometres from just east of the traffic lights on Tamarangi Drive to east of the Onepu Springs Road intersection.

Mayor Faylene Tunui said there had been conversations in the community for some time about whether to consider lowering the speed limit as new roads were built and new industries grew up along the highway.

While it would increase safety in an increasingly busy area, it would also increase expense for the council because state highway maintenance arrangements require local councils to undertake all berm maintenance work on sections with a 70kmh speed limit.

On 100kmh stretches of road, NZTA does berm maintenance.

The road itself would still be maintained by NZTA, as it is now.

However, mowing, tree trimming, footpath upkeep, and fencing repairs alongside the road would become the responsibility of the council.

This presented the council with an opportunity to improve the entrance to the town by properly maintaining and improving the area with enhanced vegetation management, improved visibility, footpath and drainage upgrades, and upkeep of the roundabout at Tamaoho Drive. 

However, it would require additional resources.

Funding for the additional costs of berm maintenance could be sought from NZTA Waka Kotahi, with a proposed contribution split of 25 percent from the council and 75 percent from NZTA.

However, NZTA Waka Kotahi funding was not guaranteed.

NZTA Waka Kotahi had recorded 53 crashes on the stretch of road over the past 15 years. Nine included serious injury, none were fatal.

Speed was recorded as a contributing factor in 11 of these crashes.

Tunui said that with this new understanding of financial and other concerns it could be a good time to go back to the community to renew the conversation.

"There will be some in this community who will like to see a reduction. There would be others who don't comply with the current speed limit," she said.

Community engagement on the speed change is expected to begin later this week.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.