The intersection that links Cornwall Rd, SH2 and Norfolk Rd. PHOTO/CHELSEA BOYLE
CHELSEA BOYLE
Carterton Mayor John Booth has made a plea for urgent action to be taken to remedy a dangerous intersection on State Highway 2 (SH2).
His call came at a Carterton District Council (CDC) committee meeting, in the wake of New Zealand’s skyrocketing road toll and a deadly week on the country’s roads.
The junction of Norfolk Rd, Cornwall Rd and State Highway 2, at Waingawa, has been a bone of contention for years.
Less than a month ago, there was a head-on collision there.
The people in the two cars escaped serious injuries but the collision still prompted a prominent road safety official to say he wondered how long people would wait before there was a death at the intersection.
To date, there has been a total of 297 fatalities nationwide compared to a total of 254 last year.
CDC’s Infrastructure and Services committee dissected a roading report and the lack of New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) action was a subject the mayor could not ignore.
Mr Booth said nothing was being done by NZTA unless they brought the issue up themselves.
“They are not listening.”
The situation drove him to despair at times, he said.
“I’ve seen three really close calls there,” Mr Booth said.
While sometimes it could be put down to poor driving, “sometimes these things can be eliminated”.
He would continue to push the matter, and would report back to council on the issue, he said.
Last month, a NZTA spokesperson said they were investigating the entire corridor between Masterton and Carterton.
A public consultation was to be completed by the end of year to encompass what all road users would like to see done to the road.
In the decade up to 2016, NZTA had recorded one serious crash, six minor crashes, and three non-injury crashes at the Norfolk Rd/Cornwall Rd/SH2 intersection.
Mr Booth’s warning comes after a deadly weekend claimed nine lives on New Zealand’s roads.
On Tuesday alone, there were another six deaths nationwide.
A driver died about 6am on Bairds Rd after crashing into a tree during a police chase in South Auckland and a motorcyclist died in a crash in Motueka, northwest of Nelson, at around the same time.
Four people were killed in a horror crash in Taupo, the youngest of which was a five-year-old boy.
