Terry ‘Hori BOP' Leaming wants to see Prime Minister Bill English spend some of the recently announced government's budget surplus money on making the Maungatapu Bridge safer.
'If there's surplus money available this year, then this bridge should be at the top of the tree,” says Terry.
The beam bridge opened in 1959, and crosses the Tauranga Harbour connecting the Matapihi and Maungatapu peninsulas. Terry has been driving across it since he arrived in Tauranga in 1967 and believes a lot has changed since then.
'During the last 10 years the amount of traffic has increased dramatically,” says Terry. 'I drive a bus full of children – and you're trying to pass a logging truck going in the other direction with only a small gap between the bus and the logging truck.
'There's no safety on the bridge anymore. There's no safety on the corner. The deaths during the last few years will prove that.
'I believe the New Zealand Transport Agency needs to step up to the plate and understand that this is a serious safety issue,” says Terry.
'It needs to become a priority. They need to understand that this is the most precious and prioritised road project in the country at the moment.
'Show me another bridge in NZ that carries as much traffic and has as bad a safety record. I challenge NZTA to do that. I don't think they will be able to do it.
'They haven't responded to my challenge over the last two years.”
NZTA's Bay of Plenty State Highway Manager Niclas Johansson says in the last five years one fatal and one serious injury crash have occurred on the Maungatapu Bridge.
'Every death and serious injury on our roads is a tragedy, and in January this year work was undertaken to extend the median barrier east of the Maungatapu Bridge on State Highway 29A,” says Niclas.
'The permanent barrier removes the risk of head-on crashes and, removing part of the passing lane manages speed around the corner.
When the Maungatapu Bridge was built in 1959 it was not envisioned that it would need to accommodate the range of vehicles that typically use the bridge today. We encourage all drivers to take care and reduce speeds on the bridge, particularly in windy or rainy conditions.”
Terry believes the only solution is to four-lane the bridge. 'It's taken five years so far and still no safety barrier,” says Terry.
'Without a four-lane highway we're going to have more deaths, we're going to have more tragedy, we're going to have more ‘I told you so' and nothing gets fixed.
'I want our politicians to jump on board with this,” says Terry. 'Bill English says there is money available, this is where it needs to be spent. Protecting our community. Just get in and fix it.”