Planned upgrades to a treacherous stretch of road on State Highway Two need to be sped up, or more people will die, a Tauranga city councillor says.
This afternoon, one person was killed and two others seriously injured on the highway, near Whakamarama.
The stretch is infamous for the many deaths and injuries there over the years.
Last year, the government announced a half-billion-dollar upgrade to the Waihi-to-Tauranga corridor.
It is expected to be complete by 2022.
But Terry Molloy, a city councillor who also chairs the area's AA board, is calling on the government to fast-track the improvements.
"It is overdue, it is a nasty piece of road. I think in any difficult stretch of highway we need to put pressure on and it needs to be fixed soon.
"There are lives being lost and people being injured on it an we need to do something about it."
