B-2 – Area 2 - Assessment of Environmental Effects 11 2.7 ROAD TRANSPORTATION NETWORK The transport network around Area 2 is described in Stantec (2022) a copy of which is provided in Part H of these application documents. Willows Road is classed as a ‘Local Road’ in the HDP’s road hierarchy. The main function of Local Roads is to provide access to adjoining properties. They are not designed for high traffic volumes and do not provide key network functions. Willows Road is a no-exit road formed and sealed for approximately 1.3 km. Beyond the sealed extent, the road continues north into the CFP as an unmade ‘paper’ road. The road has no road markings. Excepting the one-lane bridge approaches (3.7 m wide) and a culvert (5.5 m wide), Willows Road has a minimum sealed width of 5.7 m and a maximum width of 7.2 m for 1.2 km, to the Willows Road Farm entrance. The last formed and sealed section (100 m long) is 2.8 m wide. Although the speed limit is 100 km/h, Stantec (2022) reports that the road geometry and width is unlikely to enable that speed. Highland Road branches off Willows Road towards the north-east approximately 275 m north of the Willows Road – SH25 intersection. Highland Road is a no-exit road providing access to some rural-residential and rural properties south-west of the Willows Road Farm. The Willows Road - SH25 intersection is a standard T-intersection with a sight distance in both directions of more than 335 m. This complies with Austroads requirements for a 100 km/h speed environment. Average daily traffic volume estimates from the Hauraki District Council (“HDC”) asset database indicate that Willows Road has traffic volumes of 81 vehicles per day for the section to the Highland Road intersection. Traffic volumes drop to 48 vehicles/day beyond that intersection. Heavy vehicle traffic constitutes 6% to 10% of these volumes respectively. Stantec (2021) reviewed Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency traffic accident data for the period between 2016 to 2020. No crashes were recorded on Willows Road, at the Willows Road - SH25 intersection, or within 250 m of the intersection. 2.8 NOISE The noise environment is described in Marshall Day (2022) a copy of which is provided in Part H of these application documents. The environment at the Willows Road Farm is influenced by traffic noise from SH25, local roads and from the Corbetts Road quarry approximately 1 km to the north-east. In July 2020, two noise monitoring points, ‘MP1’ (in the CFP) and ‘MP2’ (at the Willows Road Farm) were established. The purpose of the monitoring was to verify the noise
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