We're making State Highway 2 (SH2) between Waihī to Ōmokoroa safer. These safety improvements are being delivered as part of Road to Zero, to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on New Zealand's roads.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency held a joint community information session with Western Bay of Plenty District Council at Katikati on Monday 5 July.
About 130 people attended to get an update on the safety improvements between Waihī and Ōmokoroa and be updated on the Takitimu North Link. There was detailed information on a proposed median barrier for a 14km section of State Highway 2 between Tetley Road and Esdaile Road, which includes five to six turnaround areas.
We had some great questions, and it was an important opportunity for us to hear directly from the community, and for the community to hear directly from us.
State Highway 2 between Waihī to Ōmokoroa has been identified as one of the roads in the State Highway network which can be made safer.
Between 2009 and 2018, 25 people have lost their lives and 66 have been seriously injured along this stretch of rural highway. Most of these accidents were caused by people running off the road and hitting trees, poles or deep ditches, head-on collisions and crashes at intersections.
People will always make mistakes, but there are changes we can make to the road so simple mistakes don't cost lives.
To make this stretch of road safer we are:
These improvements will save lives and will raise the safety rating of the state highway. Some of these changes, like putting in a wide centreline, will also mean this road can be improved even more in the future – a median barrier could potentially be added, for example.
Around 40km of state highway, between Waihī to Ōmokoroa, is being made safer. We’ve split the project into 10 sections to help limit the number of roadworks that people encounter along the highway.
Each section will take between 12–18 months to complete. The project is expected to be finished in 2024. The 10 sections are:
View estimated construction timeframes [PDF, 1.6 MB]
For more information about the SH2 Waihī to Ōmokoroa safety improvements phone 0800 080 297 or subscribe to our regular updates(external link)
For more information about the SH2 Waihī to Tauranga corridor, visit www.nzta.govt.nz/waihi2tga
Plan your trip with travel time information, traffic cameras, and updates on delays, roadworks and road closures:
www.journeys.nzta.govt.nz(external link)
