Fixes on crash prone Whitford-Maraetai Road still worry residents

Franklin’s Whitford-Maraetai Road on has seen crashes every month, becoming a regular “traumatic experience”, despite attempts to stop the trend.

The top of Siberia Hill and the bends near Okaroro Drive, including the Clifton Road intersection, are the most affected areas, where drivers lose control and find themselves in the ditch.

The crashes are often seen when the road is wet, but the road itself and the work that Auckland Council has done on it has been a discussion amongst locals.

Siberia Hill resident Maude Hughes says they have come to expect the crashes after changes haven’t been able to prevent incidents over a long period.

“After 20 years of living here, we actually expect crashes to happen when it rains.

“I guess you can say we’re pretty anxious about it as the chances of a head-on crash are very high considering most of the vehicles cross the centre line,” says Hughes.

Hughes admits the work Auckland Council has done is helping, but with the local area growing in population, something needs to be done to prevent further crashes from happening.

“Now with the dramatically increased traffic volume due to development in the area, hopefully, changes will come a lot sooner.

Franklin Council local board MP Amanda Hopkins acknowledges the issue but ensures they are working on improving the roads.

“Franklin Local Board are aware of the risks along Whitford Maraetai Road and we will continue to advocate for improvements to Auckland Transport,

“While Auckland Transport has added slow-down signage, we acknowledge that locals continue to have concerns about road safety in the area.” says Hopkins.

Hopkins explains that the recent infrastructure updates have limited the number of incidents, but there are still more issues.

“Road widening along parts of the stretch, and the resurfacing of the Henson Road bend in asphalt have reduced the number of accidents there,

“The asphalt on Siberia Hill has been welcome, but there are still problem areas,” says Hopkins.

Although there seem to be continuous, genuine attempts to fix the troublesome corner, residents are frustrated as incidents seem like they will continue.

Whitford roads were covered by Te Waha Nui for the first time in 2016.