Work got underway this week to improve safety on two sections of the Waikato Expressway.
The $12 million project on State Highway 1 between Bombay and Hampton Downs will see flexible road safety barriers placed in the middle and sides of the Expressway and new rumble strips installed. The project will be completed towards the end of the year.
SH1 is the main route between Auckland and Waikato and is used by around 22,000 vehicles per day, including freight operators, commuters and motorsport enthusiasts.
The project is part of the Government’s $600 million Safe Roads and Roadsides programme. It is one of 19 underway in the Waikato.
Between 2010 and 2014 one person died and five people were seriously injured on the stretch of the highway between SH2 and Hampton Downs. On the section between Mill Rd and SH2, one person died and another was seriously injured during the same period.
The NZ Transport Agency Waikato State Highways Manager Niclas Johansson says the work will reduce the risk of crashes, make the stretch of road safer for people who travel on it and will provide a more forgiving environment for motorists who make mistakes when they are driving.
'The safety improvements we’re making to this busy and important highway are expected to reduce deaths and serious injuries on this stretch of Expressway. This work will also bring the safety standards on this stretch of highway closer to those of our newest sections of the Waikato Expressway.'
For more information on the Government’s safer speeds programme visit: http://www.transport.govt.nz/land/safety(external link)
