A Waikato resident living near the fatal Cambridge accident hotspot says the road is "badly made" and is urging it to be replaced.
Alan Mitchell has lived near the crash site for nearly a year now and he told AM he's witnessed "quite a few serious accidents" since he's been there.
"On a regular basis, I hear a nasty crash, in the middle of the night and come roaring down my driveway to attend mostly not fatal, but recently it has been quite serious."
It comes after a person died and another was seriously injured in a crash between a truck and a van on State Highway 1. The crash happened on SH1 near Hickey Rd. The section of road is notorious for crashes and Newshub understands it's the same bend where a car and an ambulance collided last month, killing two people.
The business case for a four-lane expressway from Cambridge to the Tauranga turnoff at SH29 was made in 2017. But Waka Kotahi has revealed funding for that project was put on hold with the change in Government to Labour following the 2017 election.
"There was a re-prioritisation across the whole network for other investments, but it really only meant minor delays. We have still pushed on with safety improvements," Waka Kotahi regional relationships director David Speirs told Newshub.
Since 2020, a 2.4km flexible median safety barrier from south of Fergusson Gully was installed.
Another 1.6km of median barrier has been installed just north of Maungatautari Road. And a further 4.2km of median barrier is anticipated to be installed in this area in the 2022/23 construction season.
Transport Minister Michael Wood on Wednesday declined to comment to Newhsub or elaborate on why the four-lane Cambridge to Piarere project was delayed.
Over the past five years, the stretch of road has claimed seven lives and seriously injured 27 people. Mitchell told AM the lives lost sit on the shoulders of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
"[The] deaths, since she came into power, is on her shoulders. I don't think anyone else is to blame apart from the people who won't put a new road in," he said.
"She took it away from us."
Mitchell said the road could not be fixed and "it needs to be replaced".
"It doesn't matter what you do to it, barriers, markings, lights, it's not going to make any difference, the road is badly made."
The Waikato resident told AM a collision sounds "like thunder, like nothing else".
"The whole neighbourhood would hear it," he said.
