Crash sparks changes to Waitomo roads

THE road into Waitomo will look a little different soon, with fresh changes sparked by a recent crash in the village which saw 20 people injured.

The crash on March 13 was between a campervan, carrying one adult and two children, and a tour bus with 17 people on board. It happened on Waitomo Caves Rd, just east of Fullerton Rd.

Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency has confirmed it will be painting directional arrows on the eastern approach to the blind corner before Fullerton Rd.

System manager for Waikato, Cara Lauder, said the western approach, which was the direction the bus was travelling in, already had arrows.

Waka Kotahi has also ordered three additional “drive on left” signs to be placed at the exit to three nearby tourist destinations.

These signs are already in place at the exit to all other nearby tourist destination parking areas, she said.

Waitomo District councillor Janette Osborne shared at this week’s meeting how she came across the crash when travelling home from a regional transport committee meeting.

“I’d like to commend Inframax for the work that they did. They were flagged down by the public and they took control of the accident site, which was quite a mess.

“There were three ambulances and a helicopter that had to come in. They did an amazing job of taking control and making that site safe.”

Two days later she met with some community members regarding safety in the area where the crash happened, including those at the Red Shed, which looks down on where the accident happened.

She said she had been in contact with Waka Kotahi about reinstating the painted directional arrows on the lanes, which was booked in to happen.

“There were no directional arrows going into that corner and the campervan was on the wrong side of the road.”

People at the Red Shed told Janette that visitors were doing U-turns in the area because of a sign positioned outside, indicating pizza is sold there.

The sign has since been removed.