With four fatalities on this stretch of road [State Highway 1 between Ōtaki and Foxton] over a two week period last month, the NZ Transport Agency, Horowhenua District Council and Kāpiti Coast District Council met this week to discuss ways to improve safety on the road immediately and in the long term.
“To make New Zealand’s roads safer we need to improve every part of the system – that means safer roads, safer vehicles, safer speeds and safer drivers,” the Transport Agency’s Director of Regional Relationships Emma Speight says.
“That’s why the Transport Agency has already committed to the Ōtaki to north of Levin project, which will improve safety between Ōtaki and Levin. We expect to be able to announce the details of the project soon.
“We also have a programme of safety initiatives that we expect to begin next year and in the meantime, we will implement a number of safety measures on State Highway 1 within the next three weeks including flexible posts on flush medians, temporary electronic safety message signs, and radio advertising targeting traffic over the busy holiday period.”
Source: NZTA and Councils working together to improve safety on SH1 | NZ Transport Agency.
I’d say another factor is the enormous number of huge trucks. With better railways in New Zealand perhaps many of them could be taken off the roads altogether.
Meanwhile, if any of these interim safety measures work as desired then we’ll all be able to breathe easier.
Maybe a police car parked on the Manaku stretch of road might be a better idea and/or a speed restriction until after the nightmare bridge over the railway …
Radio advertising ? They having a laugh ???