$29m to fix ‘killer’ road
A ‘killer’ stretch of Taranaki’s State Highway 3, where four people have died this year, will undergo a $29 million upgrade, the transport minister has announced.
Urgent safety improvements will be carried out between Waitara and Bell Block, Phil Twyford said during a lightning visit to New Plymouth yesterday.
But the actual roadworks are still months away. Design plans will start in February and it will be the middle of next year before people can see the proposals.
In the last decade 14 people have died on the road and many more have been seriously injured. The 12-kilometre stretch includes 12 uncontrolled intersections, three of which are among the country’s 100 most dangerous.
The work will take place over a period of three years, and will include a new right-turn pocket on SH3 into Wills Rd, an extension of the right-turn pocket into Corbett Rd, and SH3 widening between Wills/Corbett and Mahoetahi Rd, with wire rope
safety barriers.
Although the design is yet to be finalised, Twyford confirmed roundabouts will be included.
The level of traffic had risen beyond the highway’s specifications, he said during a press call held on the SH3 weighbridge, near the intersection with Mountain Rd (SH3A).
‘‘Design work is going to begin immediately in the new year and the improvements will be rolled out over the next three years.
‘‘I would hope that by the middle of next year we should be looking at having some designs that could be shared with the community.’’
The work would include passing lanes, median barriers, road widening, and turning bays.
When asked why something had not been done sooner, Twyford said it was ‘‘all a matter of priorities’’ and spreading the roading budget around.
‘‘Our government’s made
safety the top priority.’’
Labour MP Andrew Little, who attended the announcement, said the road was an ‘‘accident blackspot’’ and needed the upgrade, while New Plymouth MP Jonathan Young, who did not take part, later welcomed the news in a statement.
‘‘It has taken a long time in the planning and investigation stage, but at least now we have a start date for when construction can begin,’’ he said.
Mayor Neil Holdom, who wrote an open letter to the minister detailing his concerns about the road, said Twyford had responded to the entreaties of the road users and residents.
‘‘This is something our community has been asking for, for more than a decade.
‘‘That’s all those families who have lost people but there’s also been a number of serious injury accidents.’’
He also said the new transport minister and new head of the New Zealand Transport Agency had been more willing to listen to the community, and credited the Taranaki Daily News series, ‘Dying to get there’, for personalising the experiences of the grieving families.
Twyford said that too many people were dying or being injured on the country’s roads and these safety upgrades would make this busy section much safer while also catering for future growth.
‘‘The NZ Transport Agency is prioritising urgent safety improvements.
‘‘Drivers will always make mistakes and the government’s job is to stop those mistakes turning into tragedies.’’