A Cabinet Minister has hit out at Waka Kotahi after the government agency refused to increase the speed limit in one part of the country.
State Highway 2 connecting the Rimutakas with Masterton was recently lowered to 80km/h.
Labour candidate for Wairarapa and current Cabinet Minister Kieran McAnulty told AM on Monday he used to serve as a firefighter in the area and never attended a head-on crash on that stretch of road.
McAnulty joined AM's Ryan Bridge in Masterton on Monday and said he's advocating for change but officials aren't letting up.
"You can imagine my frustration. When I got made associate transport minister, I thought, here's my chance to get this sorted. I asked Waka Kotahi to review the speed limit. They said 'no' and that was the end of the matter," he said.
"They have statutory independence from ministers and we cannot instruct them what to do in terms of operational decisions."
McAnulty told AM the lowered speed limits are a "massive source of frustration" to the region and he's written numerous letters to the agency asking for them to change the speed limit back to 100km/h.
National's Wairarapa candidate Mike Butterick, who was appearing alongside McAnulty on AM in Masterton, agrees the speed limit needs to be taken back to 100km/h and is promising change if elected.
"We've just said we'll keep it really simple, we'll put it back to 100km/h and the whole speed reduction is what alarms me," he said.
"There's not a shred of evidence that there's been any economic impact analysis done and 90 percent of our goods are conveyed on our roads. The people that carry all those goods have been haemorrhaging for the best part of 12 months and we want safer roads, not slower roads."
When Bridge asked both candidates if they would shake on working together to change the speed limit, they both agreed.
"I think for the sake of the region, if both candidates are saying we're going to keep pushing for this, either way, Waka Kotahi has to listen to the region, take a leaf out of KiwiRail's book who are actually working with us to find alternatives," McAnulty said.
"We've always said that Mike and I will work together for the better of the region where we can, we've always said that."
Kiwi motorcycle legend and local resident Aaron Slight is among those frustrated about the reduced speed limit.
He told AM Waka Kotahi is all about safety but the figures don't match what they're doing.
"There were four deaths in ten years on this road but ten years before that, there were 11 deaths, so it's actually been coming down naturally by itself," he said.
"They ask the locals what they want and the locals say, 'give us two roundabouts and it'll make it safer and make it easy to get around' and that would cost $3 million but they go and spend $25 million and make it more unsafe and bring the speed down and make it harder to get around."
The reason Slight believes it's more unsafe is because Armco barriers (barriers on the side of the road) were not installed when Waka Kotahi put central median barriers in.
"What you're doing is you're moving the traffic from the middle of the road to more the left-hand side of the road. The top ten things we hit in New Zealand that kill us are on the left-hand side of the road," he told AM.
Slight said this issue was preempted years ago and he even had a meeting with McAnulty.
"I went to Kieran McAnulty five years ago with another three businessmen to say this is going to interrupt our businesses in Masterton with the slower traffic going up and down," he said.
"When we preempted all this stuff, why can't they get in front of it? Is the tail wagging the dog?"
Waka Kotahi told AM between January 2010 and December 2019, there were 488 reported crashes on State Highway 2 between Masterton and Featherston. Four people were killed and 28 were seriously injured.
The agency said the new speed limits would help protect the lives of people who use local streets and roads.
"The decision to do a speed review only came after a thorough technical assessment of this section of State Highway 2 had been done. It looked at what a safe and appropriate speed for the road should be and if it was out of step with the 100 km/h speed limit that had been in place. Safe and appropriate speeds are recorded in the Megamaps database," Emma Speight, director regional relationships for Waka Kotahi.
"During the assessment, we looked at the previous crash history, the average speed people were travelling at, the number of cars and trucks using the road each day, and what was happening near the road in terms of housing, urban development, businesses, and other activities."
Waka Kotahi said while adding central median barriers to this section of road does mitigate the risk of head-on crashes, the highway has had run-off and loss-of-control crashes in the past.
"There are roadside hazards on the route and limited shoulder/recovery space in some locations," Speight said.
"The highway is also commonly used by cyclists and slower agricultural vehicles. A lower speed limit helps reduce the risk to these road users and improves the outcomes of any crashes that may occur."
Speight told AM research also indicates speed is under-reported in road crashes.
“Speeding is involved in around 60 percent of fatal crashes in New Zealand, and that speeds above New Zealand’s Safe and Appropriate Speeds are involved in around 71 percent of injury crashes," the research said.
She said the decision to reduce the speed limit is about saving lives.
"The previous speeds on this section of State Highway 2 were harming people, and as a road safety regulator, we had an obligation to look at changes to keep people safe," Speight said.
"Even the best drivers sometimes make mistakes. A head-on crash at 100km/h is significantly more likely to result in death or serious injury than a head-on crash at 80km/h. The energy generated by an impact at 100km/h is 50 percent greater than that generated by a crash at 80km/h."
Waka Kotahi told AM consultation with police the New Zealand Automobile Association, members of the public and road users group took place from July to September 2021.
"Over 1300 pieces of feedback were received from stakeholder organisations and the public during the consultation period," Speight told AM.
Watch the full interview with Kieran McAnulty and Mike Butterick in the video above.
