Truck drivers in Taranaki are prepared for a go-slow to protest their claim New Zealand Transport Agency is not maintaining part of northern State Highway 3 properly.
They claim the parts of State Highway 3 in North Taranaki is badly damaging their trucks.
Owner John Hickman of JD Hickman, one of the regions largest trucking firms is now calling for a go-slow to get their point across to the Government.
“The plan is to travel everywhere at 70km/h,” says Hickman.
Hickman says the go-slow would save damage to trucks, make life easier on the lowers and lower costs but “It would annoy a hell of a lot of motorists.
The poorly maintained roads were causing damage to Hickman’s trucks, which he says were being unfairly targeted by the agency’s compliance officers.
News that NZTA to spend $3.1m for a roundabout at the Waitomo Caves intersection brought the truckies concerns to a head, says Road Transport Association western region spokesman Tom Cloke.
Cloke says while the agency was prepared to spend money at Waitomo, the road north of New Plymouth needs money to be spent on black spots such as the Normanby overpass.
NZTA spokeswoman Kate Styles says the agency would strongly discourage the go-slow protest action, which would cause extensive inconvenience to motorists.
The most appropriate and constructive channel for the RTA was to continue to work with the transport agency and other partners through the SH3 strategic study.
The study was currently under way to identify options to make the route more safe, resilient and efficient.
Styles says NZTA has been working to rigorously maintain and improve the condition of SH3 north, and that Taranaki highways were maintained to the same design standards as other comparable highways around the country.
Cloke says his association met NZTA in Hamilton yesterday to express their disapproval at what they believe was a waste of money at Waitomo when the road further south was being neglected.
While the option to move the Waitomo intersection further north was seen as a good option, it was sheer waste for $3.1m to be spent on a roundabout, he says.
NZTA’s principal safety engineer, Michelle Te Wharau, says the agency made no apologies for improving the safety for all motorists, which is what the roundabout solution would do.
Te Wharau confirmed the agency met yesterday with the RTA and acknowledged their concerns and agreed to work with the association through the design process.
