Road cyclists will feel a little safer with the installation of special warning signs on the Tutaekuri Bridge alerting motorists to their presence.
After several near misses and accidents, local truck drivers and cyclists say it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt. They are concerned some of the bridges around the region are dangerously narrow.
In 2009 the New Zealand Transport Agency identified six bridges in the region as "narrow" or "very narrow". But for truck drivers and cyclists in the Hastings and Napier area two bridges on arterial route State Highway 2 near Awatoto - the Tutaekuri Bridge and Ngaruroro Bridge - were of particular concern.
In July, a Whakatu man came off his bike while on the Tutaekuri Bridge shortly after being overtaken by a truck, which itself was pushed for room because of an oncoming truck. While the cyclist escaped with minor injuries, the event highlighted the narrowness of the bridge.
The NZ Transport Agency acting state highways manager Gordon Hart said work is under way installing the signs, which will light up when a bicycle passes over detector loops to warn approaching motorists a cyclist is on the bridge.