Highway traveller information will be getting a further boost in the New Year when NZTA begins construction on the second stage of a comprehensive electronic monitoring system between Wellington and Petone.
Wellington operations manager Mark Owen says the next stage of work on the Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) is scheduled to begin at the end of the official holiday period in January with contractor HEB Smithbridge installing fibre optic cable, closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras and electronic signage along State Highway 1 and 2 between the Terrace Tunnel and Petone overbridge.
Mr Owen says the aim of this work will be to give road users more real time traveller information about incidents and traffic conditions.
“By installing cameras and electronic signage we will be in a better position to see what’s happening on the highway and advise motorists what to expect or give them options to consider before heading onto the road.”
He says NZTA is aiming to provide more real-time information with this work following on from an earlier stage carried out between the Terrace Tunnel to Ngauranga Gorge. The ATMS system will work in tandem with other electronic signs on the state highway network in the Wellington region and forms part of our traffic management centre coordinating state highway road use.
Work on the ATMS project is planned to take place mainly at the side of the road between 4am and 4pm or at times when the impact on traffic will be minimal. Every effort will be made to minimise the impact to road users with work expected to be finished in mid to late 2009.
When completed, the network of CCTV cameras and electronic message signs will be monitoring and maintained by NZTA staff at the Wellington Traffic Management Centre. This includes the supply of information to the media for such things as radio traffic bulletins.
