An ongoing battle between Wright Rd residents and NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi is now playing out on a national stage.

Resident Rochelle Zajko spoke to the Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee on Thursday on her petition calling for change.

Residents of Wright Rd south of Katikati have been fighting NZTA’s wire median barriers along State Highway 2 since 2021.

The wire barriers were installed between Waihī and Ōmokoroa as part of road safety improvements.

Zajko said she was there to advocate for the reinstatement of the safe right-hand turning bay into Wright Rd and gaps in the barrier for those along State Highway 2 between Matahui and Morton Rd roundabouts.

“This is not about anti-barrier,” she said.

“This is about a major roading flaw affecting a large amount of people and businesses.

“With a population of 780 people, Wright Rd contributes millions to the local and wider economy, accounting for 17% of the Aongatete population, includes tourist attractions, DoC tracks, kiwifruit and avocado orchards, dairy farms, nurseries, and countless businesses; all of whom have never been contacted by NZTA about the barrier across the intersection.”

With her, Zajko said she brought support statements from Western Bay of Plenty and Bay of Plenty Regional Council, along with affected businesses and residents.

“Up this rural road like Wright Rd, there are frequent serious accidents, medical crises, bush or shelter fires and crime.”

The community had to contend with a far wider scope of emergencies, and with the barrier extending 8.5km up into the Kaimai Range, it was causing delayed responses from emergency teams, she said.

Zajko formed her petition in August 2024 “because NZTA refused to meet with us”, gathering 658 signatures from around the community against the median barriers, which she said had caused grief in their community.

Coromandel MP Scott Simpson, petitioner Rochelle Zajko and retired engineer Peter Clarke. Photo / Supplied

Her petition asked to allow drivers to make right turns onto and off SH2 between Ōmokoroa and Waihi and remove the new median barriers that blocked access to and from Wright Rd, Aongatete Rd, Dawson Rd, and workplaces from SH2.

Zajko wrote in the reasoning behind her petition submission that the Waihī to Ōmokoroa SH2 median barrier project started by NZTA under Labour’s Road to Zero policy affected emergency services, daycares, and bus routes for colleges, and residents had to add an extra 7km to their trips.

As with all petitions, an MP must present the petition to Parliament before the next step in the process.

Tauranga Act MP Cameron Luxton was approached..

“This seems like a situation where NZTA has not done proper consultation on changes to a road design after the initial consultation,” he said.

The median barriers on State Highway 2 in Aongatete. Photo / David Hall

He said this had left 700 residents of Wright Rd and other SH2 side roads feeling like they had been left in the dark during the process of designing the road, meaning that they now, in his view, had an unsafe outcome that hadn’t achieved what the barriers aimed to achieve.

“This has made a lot of residents very angry and seeking any kind of way to resolve this issue, and they have done that by bringing a petition to Parliament.”

Initially, when the issue was brought to Luxton, he attended public meetings to learn about the issue.

“It got to a point where it was quite clear that there was a problem here with community engagement from NZTA on the issue of the median barriers in that area and blocking off rural roads from access to the wide roading network to the Bay of Plenty.”

Luxton is a permanent member of the Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee.

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The petition was referred to the committee from the Petitions Committee, and on Thursday, they heard from Zajko.

Subsequently, they were able to ask questions to a representative from NZTA.

“It’s just an incredible situation that NZTA has got themselves into, where really, it’s quite an obvious problem ... with a really obvious solution,” Luxton said.

The median barriers on State Highway 2 in Aongatete. Photo / David Hall

An NZTA spokesperson told SunLive it was aware there was a range of views in the community about median barriers on State Highway 2 and acknowledged a Wright Rd resident presented an oral submission to the Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee on Thursday.

“NZTA is continuing to assess the safety at this intersection and balance the considerations for the road corridor and road users.”

NZTA did not wish to comment further.