Serious and fatal crashes jumped more than 44% on State Highway 2 from Katikati to Tauranga between two decades – even as other Bay of Plenty highways recorded declining numbers.
A study commissioned by the AA Research Foundation found a 26.2% reduction in fatal and serious crashes across four high-risk state highway stretches in the Bay of Plenty.
The research compared crashes recorded between 2002-2006 and 2017-2023, excluding 2020 and 2021, which were affected by Covid-19 restrictions.
Bay of Plenty District Council chairwoman Marie Rutherford said the results reflected investments in Bay of Plenty roads.
“A 26% drop in fatal and serious crashes is an excellent result and a testament to the hard work that’s been happening to make our roads safer.
“Not only have we seen attitudes change through education, but we are building better infrastructure.”
The figures sat against a 27.5% rise in traffic volume on the monitored roads,reflecting population growth over the past 20 years.
Between 2006 and 2023, the Bay of Plenty’s population grew 30.6% to 346,500, while Tauranga’s jumped 48.1% to 158,900.
Of the four monitored routes, SH2 Bethlehem to Mount Maunganui recorded the largest crash decrease at 77.8% between the periods.
This was followed by SH2 Mount Maunganui to Paengaroa, down 50%, and SH29/SH2 Tauriko to Tauranga, down 21.4%.
The outlier was SH2 Katikati to Tauranga where crashes increased 44.4% between the periods.
Both serious injury and fatal crashes increased, from 21 to 30 and six to nine, respectively.
The increase was second only to State Highway 1, Cambridge to Piarere, (up 75%) among the eight corridors where fatal and serious crashes increased, out of the 32 compared.
Rutherford said this stretch of State Highway 2 was the only one of the Bay of Plenty highways to not receive substantial improvements.
She said roads such as the Tauranga Eastern Link had been built to modern safety standards with features including double lanes and side and median barriers.
But much of the Katikati end of SH2 remained an old‑style rural highway.
“It’s a decades-old design – one lane each way, narrow and not particularly safe."
Rutherford said the Bay of Plenty results were cause for optimism, but not complacency.
“We’d like to eventually see two lanes going each way as it’s an important route with nearly 15,000 vehicles using it per day.
“We have made real progress. But there are still people dying and being seriously injured on these roads every year, and there is still a lot of work to do.”
State Highway 2 between Katikati and Tauranga has been the subject of protests over the years, from the Fix the Bloody Road calls for safety upgrades in 2018, to more recent protests against wire median barriers that prevent right turns into some side roads.
Katikati Community Board chairman John Clements said the new research numbers were interesting but not a total surprise.
”Farm equipment on SH2 with no overtaking lanes is not a good mix.”
He said the wire median barriers had led to frustration and inappropriate actions by drivers.
The barriers were installed by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi between Waihī and Ōmokoroa from 2021 as part of the then-government’s Road to Zero programme to reduce serious and fatal crashes.
Western Bay of Plenty Katikati-Waihī Beach ward councillor Rodney Joyce said the AA figures were deeply discouraging.
“These fatalities and serious crashes show the human cost of underinvestment in our highways.”
He said the findings underlined the need for a long‑term plan for SH2.
He said new projects like the Takitimu North Link – a four-lane alternative route between Tauranga and Ōmokoroa – would help.
He believed the existing corridor between Ōmokoroa and Katikati, however, still required major investment to meet current and future demand.
Western Bay of Plenty Police area commander, Inspector Clifford Paxton, said safety improvements had been completed along many sections of SH2.
Where those were in place, police expected to see a reduction in fatal and serious injury crashes.
“There has also been a lot of road works on parts of the highway, and generally this means we see a reduction in fatal and serious injury crashes in those areas due to lower speed limits in place.”
He said not all parts of the corridor had benefited from the same level of safety investment, however.
An NZTA spokesperson said it has spent five years delivering safety improvements along the SH2 Katikati–Tauranga section.
These included new roundabouts, road widening and additional roadside barriers.
“NZTA will continue to assess the safety of the road corridor as part of the improvements project.”
They said the speed limit was lowered to 80km/h in December 2020, superseding earlier 90km/h and 100km/h sections.
The prior limits were reinstated in May last year under the Setting of Speed Limits Rule 2024.
NZTA said the Takitimu North Link Stage 1, Tauranga to Te Puna, was due for completion in 2028.
“Stage 2, currently in design, will provide an efficient, reliable and safer route between Tauranga and Ōmokoroa.”
Zoe Blake is a multimedia journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post.