Holiday makers using Kopu Bridge this Christmas will have a new tool to help them minimise delays.
Holiday makers using Kopu Bridge this Christmas will have a new tool to help them minimise delays.
The NZ Transport Agency is installing a closed circuit television camera (CCTV) on the western side of the bridge this week (week starting December 14). The camera will send real-time footage of bridge traffic directly to the Auckland Traffic Operations Centre.
Up-to-date traffic information will be put up on the NZ Transport Agency website and regular updates will also be sent to all radio networks. It will allow travellers to assess how heavy the traffic is so they can delay their journey or change their plans if they wish to.
Waikato-Bay of Plenty NZTA regional director Harry Wilson said it was the first time the NZ Transport Agency had used CCTV in the region to assist drivers.
“Over the holiday period, traffic on the Kopu Bridge and on the roads leading up to the bridge can be incredibly heavy,” he said. “It makes for a frustrating start to the holidays and can cause major inconvenience to locals so anything we can do to minimise that is a good thing as far as I’m concerned.”
The CCTV camera is one of a number owned by the NZ Transport Agency. The Kopu Bridge camera will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week until the end of January.
Meanwhile, physical work on building the new $40 million Kopu Bridge will be well underway before Christmas. Construction has started on a platform from the western bank which will be built out to the swing span on the existing bridge. The platform will support the piling rig and allow construction of the piers for the new bridge to begin.
The new 580 metre-long bridge, which was fast-tracked as part of the Government’s $500 million jobs and growth plan, is on track to be completed by mid-2012. Once completed, it will improve traffic capacity along SH25 to and from the Coromandel Peninsula and reduce holiday travel times between Auckland and Thames.
The Kopu Bridge project also provides for a new four-leg roundabout at the SH25/SH26 intersection and about 2.5 kilometres of associated approach roads, including a new link road to SH26 east of the bridge.
For more information please contact:
Julie Hannam
Regional Communications Advisor
T 64 7 958 7238
M 027 294 2649
Julie.hannam@nzta.govt.nz
