Stuff Digital Edition

Safety fixes for highway

Manawatū reporter

One of the most unsafe stretches of State Highway 1, where multiple people have died in the past year, will be made safer before the summer holidays.

Motorists are regularly held up on SH1 between taki and Levin due to fatal and serious crashes.

Seven people lost their lives and 28 people were seriously injured on the stretch of road in the period between 2016 and 2020.

While Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency plans to build a new highway in the area, construction is unlikely to start before 2025.

The agency sought feedback on safety improvements in the meantime.

It confirmed yesterday that it would start work in December.

Agency regional relationships director Linda Stewart said they looked at what work could be done sooner rather than later, and decided to bring forward improvements near Kuku.

Multiple people have died near Kuku in 2021, including two people on a motorcycle in June and four people in November who were travelling to Taranaki after having attended a protest in Wellington.

Stewart said some work, including road resurfacing, new signage and repainted lines, would be done before Christmas.

The new lines would remove the passOŌ¯ing lanes between the hau rail overbridge and Tatum Park conference centre, while the new road layout would have the centrelines and shouldersmade wider.

Flexible posts would also be added to the centreline in places.

There would also be consultation on proposals for lower speed limits in the area, Stewart said.

taki MP Terisa Ngobi welcomed the announcement, saying it would ensure safer roads before the regularly heavy holiday traffic rolls into the area.

‘‘We know that stretch of road is dangerous and that these safety improvements will make a big difference to keeping our community much safer while work progresses on the new fourlane highway from taki to north of Levin.’’

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en-nz

2021-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://stuff.pressreader.com/article/281539409227697

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