Ideas sought for SH1 safety work
A SERIES of dropin meetings between Oamaru and Dunedin will be held this month so the public can share their ideas about safety improvements on State Highway 1.
The NZ Transport Agency is looking for more of what it called ‘‘great feedback’’ from locals at A&P shows in Oamaru and Palmerston.
It will hold new meetings in Waitati, Waikouaiti, Hampden, Oamaru and Dunedin, beginning on Sunday.
NZTA system manager Graeme Hall said people who lived in the area and drove the road ‘‘know it better than anyone else’’.
‘‘Local communities along the route are growing and there are a number of popular tourist attractions in the area, such as the Moeraki Boulders. It’s a busy road and we need to improve it, to reduce the number of people
being killed or seriously injured in crashes.’’
Last year, after a series of fatal and serious injury crashes near Moeraki, an outcry from residents in the Waitaki district prompted the agency to install an electronic warning system and a ‘‘variable speed limit’’ of 70kmh at the Moeraki Boulders turnoff.
Earlier road markings were changed, ‘‘keep left’’ arrows were painted on either side of the intersection and signs for the tourist stop were moved closer to the intersection.
Better signs, more passing lanes, lowered speed limits, median barriers and ‘‘more com mon sense’’ displayed by drivers were all raised as possibilities at the A&P show feedback sessions the agency hosted this year.
Mr Hall said in the 10 years from 2007 through 2016, 30 people were killed and 112 seriously injured in crashes on the 112km of State Highway 1 between Oamaru and Dunedin.
Most serious crashes involved people losing control of their vehicle, running off the road and crashing into roadside objects or hitting another vehicle headon, he said.
There were also ‘‘a significant number of crashes at intersections on the route’’.
Mr Hall said putting in safety barriers to stop drivers running off the road, widening the shoulder, installing rumble strips to alert drivers if they strayed across the centre line and putting in barriers or wide centre lines to help prevent headon crashes were all possibilities.