{"id":612216,"date":"2026-09-26T08:10:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T08:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/612216\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T08:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T08:10:14","slug":"poor-decisions-committee-criticises-nzta-over-sh2-barrier-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/612216\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Poor decisions’: Committee criticises NZTA over SH2 barrier project"},"content":{"rendered":"

NZTA “made several poor decisions” and left locals feeling ignored and disrespected after a controversial median barrier stopped them from turning into their road, a parliamentary select committee found.<\/p>\n

By Ayla Yeoman of Local Democracy Reporting<\/p>\n

The loss of the right turn off SH2 into Wright Rd, south of Katikati, prompted protests and a 658-signature petition calling for its reinstatement.<\/p>\n

Parliament\u2019s transport and infrastructure committee criticised NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi for how it handled the SH2 upgrades between Waih\u012b and Tauranga.<\/p>\n

Wright Rd is the only SH2 entry and exit for about 780 residents.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The median barriers on State Highway 2 in Aongatete. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

The wire median barrier stops southbound traffic from turning right into the road.<\/p>\n

Wright Rd resident Rochelle Zajko petitioned NZTA to reinstate the southbound right-turn bay by moving the barrier back 160m.<\/p>\n

Her petition also requested gaps in the barrier to allow right turns into Seeka Packhouse and Morton Estate Winery.<\/p>\n

Letters from the Western Bay Mayor, a Bay of Plenty Regional councillor and some affected residents supported the petition.<\/p>\n

\"One<\/p>\n

One of the SH2 median barrier protests. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

In its final report on the petition, the committee said it was “disappointed with NZTA\u2019s conduct” during its community engagement and how it considered the petition.<\/p>\n

The report said NZTA\u2019s engagement with Wright Rd residents and businesses left them feeling ignored and disrespected.<\/p>\n

“Engagement should be proactive and in good faith. Even where negative effects on a community cannot be fully avoided, they should not be dismissed.”<\/p>\n

The committee said significant disagreement remained between the community and NZTA over the data and methodology used, as well as how well the barrier installation had been communicated.<\/p>\n

“We recognise engagement fatigue and genuine misunderstanding may have affected the residents\u2019 awareness of the median barrier.”<\/p>\n

However, it said NZTA was responsible for ensuring thorough consultation and adapting to community needs.<\/p>\n

\"Coromandel<\/p>\n

Coromandel MP Scott Simpson, petitioner Rochelle Zajko and retired engineer Peter Clarke spoke to the transport and infrastructure select committee at Parliament about the petition. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also consider that NZTA made several poor decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

These included completing the median barrier work on the same evening as a community meeting NZTA had declined to attend, and being poorly prepared for the committee\u2019s first hearing on the petition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe strongly encourage NZTA to consider, and implement, the lessons it can learn from this project.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur first hearing with NZTA stands out for the level of frustration and disappointment shared by all members of the committee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Between the first and second hearings, NZTA commissioned independent analysis specific to the intersection.<\/p>\n

“The analysis did not support removing the median barrier.”<\/p>\n

\"One<\/p>\n

One of several protests against the median barriers. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

The final decision on the median barrier was for the NZTA board. It did not intend to revisit the decision.<\/p>\n

The committee also expressed concern about reports of NZTA employees and contractors experiencing abuse.<\/p>\n

“We recognise that NZTA needs to consider staff safety when considering public engagement.<\/p>\n

“However, we hope it will find ways to engage with most community members, who are not being abusive and deserve to be heard.”<\/p>\n

Zajko told Local Democracy Reporting the report identified what, in her view, were “serious failures” by NZTA.<\/p>\n

She said community concerns about near misses, heavy vehicles negotiating the roundabouts, illegal U-turns, emergency access, increased travel distances and business effects had not been fully tested against independent engineering reports and evidence.<\/p>\n

She said residents and affected businesses remained focused on meeting NZTA board members and arguing for restoring the right turn into Wright Rd.<\/p>\n

NZTA told Local Democracy Reporting that it would carefully consider the committee\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n

“We recognise the outcome was not what some community members wanted.<\/p>\n

“We acknowledge the committee\u2019s concerns and will consider what lessons can be applied to future projects.”<\/p>\n

NZTA said the design was retested through a Safe System Assessment by an independent consultant, Beca.<\/p>\n

This considered the existing arrangement, options to reinstate the right-turn bay at both 80km\/h and 100km\/h and reported wrong-way movements.<\/p>\n

“The assessment found the current arrangement provided the best safety outcome and did not identify evidence supporting removal or alteration of the median barrier.”<\/p>\n

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NZTA “made several poor decisions” and left locals feeling ignored and disrespected after a controversial median barrier stopped…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":612217,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[15656,687,111,43,139,69,135,1756],"class_list":["post-612216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-air-travel","tag-housing-and-infrastructure","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-politics","tag-tauranga-bay-of-plenty"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}