Road Safety

Port Underwood Road is narrow and winding with poor visibility on a number of bends.  This creates a number of problems, several of which that should have been addressed already.  I suspect that road inspections carried out from the higher viewpoint of a council ute may lie behind the lack of recognition of some of these problems.

Heavy vehicles unavoidably cross the centreline because of the tight radius of the bends and the geometry of each particular truck/trailer combination.  Trucks without trailers are noticeably less problematic than with trailers.  In general the logging trucks can negotiate the bends with fewer problems than, for example, mussel and metal carrying truck/trailer units. Even so, there are many corners on which the logging trucks have no option, no matter how skilled the driver, other than crossing a significant distance over the white painted centreline.

I have stood at various corners and taken photographs and followed trucks taking dash cam movies which prove that the driver is doing everything possible to remain on their side of the road, yet this traffic law violation has to inevitably occur.
The law states that a pilot vehicle should precede the heavy vehicle under these circumstances, but this only happens with “Low Loaders” transporting over-width machinery – and not always even then.

Although local residents understand and allow for this heavy vehicle behaviour, the visitor, and in particular the international visitor driving a campervan on what may be to them the wrong side of the road, runs the risk of collision, or a heart attack.  These drivers tend to drive astride the centreline anyway and it has to be good luck alone that has prevented a serious collision.  I have witnessed many close shaves.

In the case seen in the photographs below I had been following a slow camper van that was straddling the centreline and causing me concern on blind corners.  I had decided to pull off at Karaka Point to preserve my sanity and just as I stopped I heard a heavy vehicle approaching from the south.  I managed to get this sequence of photographs which are fairly self explanatory.

See attached photos:

PHOTO 1 - Note that the first vehicle is the camper van I had been following, which was followed immediately after by a caravan

PHOTO 2

PHOTO 3

PHOTO 4

The logging truck was slightly over the centreline when the driver of the caravan took corrective action, fortunately avoiding contact.  The truck stopped but once moving again it can is seen to be well over onto the wrong side of the road.  In a modern car with a wide “A” pillar obstructing vision, a truck in this position on this corner is only seen at the last second.

The truck continued on, still over the white centreline on a very narrow section of road.

PHOTO 5

In this next photograph taken above Sunshine Bay the truck is again well over onto the wrong side of the road, although the white centreline is difficult to see.  It also is a blind corner.
Local drivers understand this risk and keep well out to the left, but tourists often don’t. (Note that there is a trailer behind this truck, but the drawbar is obscured.

PHOTO 6

A location closer to Waikawa Bay with the parked vehicle on the right and the positioning of the logging truck over the white centreline create a hazard on a bend. The road veers to the left.

PHOTO 7

PHOTO 8

An example of poor driving near Sunshine Heights.  I had to reverse to allow the truck to complete the turn.

What are the legal liabilities to the Council, having given tacit approval to this behaviour, if an accident does occur?  Will this increase our rates?

Threats to Pedestrians

While there are numerous sections of road where pedestrians are at risk from vehicles, particularly over the holiday months, it is realised that the cost of providing a walkway would add to Council costs and to our rates.  There is one particular location, however, where safety could be improved with minimal cost.  The blind right-hand bend adjacent to the garage of number 51 Port Underwood Rd has a white guard railing which serves to highlight the bend to drivers and also to protect walkers from falling over the edge to the sea below.

On several occasions I have witnessed groups of pedestrians walking along the white guard rail just as a heavy vehicle has approached on its way into Picton. I have needed to stop as there is not enough width of road for a truck over the centreline (as it has to be to negotiate that bend) plus the pedestrians and a car.

Photo 9

A possible solution would be to build an approximately 900mm wide path, with a further safety railing on the seaward side, outside of the white guard rail.

The next photograph shows that only a short section of the bank needs to be built up to provide a safer walking path.  The Agapanthus plant by the garage could be removed to provide an adequate width of path past that building.

Photo 10

Cyclists

The need to keep well to the left on many corners to avoid heavy vehicles creates problems when cyclists are on the road, potentially putting them at risk.  To my knowledge no cyclists use this road for essential travel except maybe some school students who live close to Waikawa.  The handful of regular recreational cyclists understand the problems facing vehicle drivers and do not create hazards. 

The much bigger problem is people who buy or hire a bicycle and feel that it would be fun to ride on this “nice, quite safe road” to see the views from Karaka Point. They tend to wave drivers on at the most inappropriate places instead of dismounting to allow vehicles past. I have seen a vehicle (a rental car) overtake on a blind corner in a heart stopping manner after being waved on by a cyclist.

Could a large sign be erected at Waikawa stating that Port Underwood Road is not suitable for recreational cycling?  It might save lives.

Logging of the Forest Above Port Underwood Road

This is expected to be harvested in coups starting soon after 2026 and will involve loaded trucks exiting the upgraded Karaka logging road and travelling south into Whatamango Bay before doing a ”U” turn and heading back into Picton.  The tight bend outside of 490 Port Underwood Rd will be traversed by loaded trucks heading south. If trailers are also used it would take only a minor misjudgment by the driver to have a loaded trailer go into the gully below.  That would create a significant closure of Port Underwood Rd. There has already been a case of a truck and piggy-backed trailer misjudging a corner and going partly off the road on the inside of a tight bend nearer to Karaka Point.

Will the geometry of this corner be improved before logging commences on Karaka Rd?

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