State Highway 58 between the Hutt Valley and Porirua will soon be made safer, with construction of the first stage of safety improvements getting underway this month.
The NZ Transport Agency’s Director of Regional Relationships Emma Speight says safety is a priority for the busy state highway, which carries around 16,000 vehicles daily.
“Last year we lowered the speed limit on State Highway 58 from 100 kilometres per hour to 80 kilometres per hour. But we know there’s more we can do to make the road safer.
“The first stage of the State Highway 58 safety improvements will cover the stretch of highway from the Hayward’s interchange to Mt Cecil Road. They involve widening the road to include an uphill crawler lane, adding sealed shoulders, installing road barriers and making curve corrections.”
Construction begins at the Hayward’s interchange end of the highway and will quickly ramp up to cover multiple sites concurrently. There will be traffic management in place while the work is underway.
This stage of the safety improvements is due to be completed in early 2021.
“Construction of stage two of the safety improvements, from Mt Cecil Rd to the Transmission Gully interchange at Pauatahanui will start after consents and property acquisitions are completed and funding is secured for construction, and once Transmission Gully has opened, to avoid the effects of Transmission Gully’s construction activities,” Ms Speight says.
In the meantime, the Transport Agency is continuing to install interim safety measures for the stage two section of State Highway 58, including signs and speed indicators, road markings, electronic warning signs, improved intersection lighting and an upgrade of the intersection at Flighty’s and Murphy’s roads.
For more information about the safety improvements on SH58 head to www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/sh58-improvements(external link)
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