Improving road safety along Piha Road, Waiatarua

About the Project

We’re making Piha Road safer by adding new safety measures for people driving through Waiatarua.

Our investigations show that extra improvements are needed to warn drivers about sharp bends and give better visibility along this winding rural road. It will reduce the likelihood of a crash on this rural road and ensure everyone gets where they need to go and home safely.

The Changes we're making

• Install new high-friction surfacing at high-risk bends to prevent loss-of-control crashes along the road, as shown in the drawing.
• Install additional single chevron signs (Stripe V-shaped bar signs) and advance curve warning signs on existing sign poles. No additional posts have been proposed except for the electronic curve warning signs (6 along Piha Road)
• Install electronic curve warning signs in the high-crash area.
• Install rumble strips (Audio Tactile Pavement Markings) on the centre line of Piha Road between Anawhata Road to Scenic Drive to prevent head-on crashes in the 80km/h speed zone.
• Install cats eyes (red reflective raised pavement markers) to make lane clearer and easier to see at night.

Benefits to your community

• Safer journeys – The improvements help reduce the risk of crashes and make it safer for everyone using the road.
• Better road signage – It’s easier for vehicles to get around the road and move through the area safely.
  
• Encourages drivers to slow down and take extra care when approaching the curve and increases driver awareness when approaching high-crash-risk bends.
• New road markings and signs improve safety by minimising the risk of losing control type of crash.

What happens next

We will install these changes in early 2026.

We will be in touch with residents before any work takes place.

Any changes to the plan will be updated on this page.

How to contact us

If you’d like to give us feedback about our plans, please get in touch by emailing us at ATEngagement@at.govt.nz or leave us a comment below by September 29, 2025