Gisborne truck route to quieten as council changes permits

A truck route “in a constant state of deterioration” might become a lot quieter after a Gisborne District Council decision regarding heavy vehicle permits.

During council meetings last year, councillors and community members raised safety concerns around trucks travelling along Back Ormond and Ormond Rds.

A man who drove daily along Ormond Rd to and from work said he had seen too many “near-misses” involving schoolchildren.

In July, the council added new maps to NZ Transport Agency’s (NZTA) “H” permit system, which exclude Back Ormond and Ormond Rds.

Trucks that carry over 44 tonnes require “H” permits to be driven on roads.

These permits were valid for up to 24 months, a council Regional Transport Committee report said.

Once these expired, it would be “a decision of Council whether to continue or not”.

“Over the coming year or so, trucks should stop using this route,” the report said.

Eastland Wood Council chairman Julian Kohn said the concern was over traffic coming out of the Waimata Valley and Ormond area.

“In the next 10-15 years, there’s going to be a very significant increase in the volumes of wood coming out of our forests from the Waimata-Hokoroa-Tauwhareparae area, not only from wood council members, but from other forest owners.”

According to the report, the Ormond Rd-Back Ormond Rd route is “a local road which the council pays 32% towards maintaining and is in a constant state of deterioration because of heavy vehicle traffic”.

The report said traffic data captured at the port reflected the number of log trucks across the road network, which was 87% rural, most of which was built on “unstable ground, not built for heavy vehicles and sustained significant damage from weather events”.

It also said the number of heavy vehicles to support roading recovery after Cyclone Gabrielle had increased significantly since a 2017 freight report.

The move regarding “H” permits on Ormond and Back Ormond Rds comes as the council looks to get safety work funding for “a preferred route” for heavy goods vehicles along State Highway 2 and SH35 (including Awapuni Rd and Customhouse St).

The report said the council approved the route in 2020, provided NZTA made “appropriate safety improvements ... at key locations along the way”.

During consultation in 2020, the “preferred route” received 57% support. However, there were significant reasons given for supporting a dual route, such as limiting adverse effects on Kiwi Pools, Awapuni School and residents, beach and surf lifesaving clubs, sports facilities and the Oneroa walkway/cycleway, the report said.

To date, NZTA had not allocated any funding for the safety improvements, so the council was working to secure the funding by using transport modelling to demonstrate potential increases and identify “priority safety improvements”.

No longer permitting heavy vehicle use of Ormond and Back Ormond Rds would allow the council to “monitor enforcement and the impact and use the data for modelling purposes”.

According to the report, since 2019, the number of logging trucks to the port have averaged 800 a day (400 each way).

In December last year, the port gained consent to build a twin berth and expects a 42% increase in freight movement.

“With the port’s ability to take logs more consistently with a twin berth by 2030, the number of logging truck movements on the region’s network is going to increase from 800 daily average to a peak of 1250, a 56% increase.”

The port said in its Traffic around Eastland Port 2022 resource consent application brief that it did not anticipate a large increase in peak truck volumes, rather, more consistent volumes closer to peak, according to the report.

No funding was set aside by NZTA in the 2024-27 National Land Transport Plan for Tāirawhiti state highways to improve road safety at the Hirini St T-intersection to access Eastland Port, or any other safety upgrades required to safely implement the preferred route, the report said.

Eastland Port supported NZTA and council upgrading the Hirini St.

“They stated busier days could become more common and the congested periods could become longer before the intersection is upgraded.”

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.