Speed to be cut at Wairarapa black spot

wta250805lfcrash03.jpg Crash Wiltons Road SH2 intersection between Masterton and Carterton late thursday afternoon. WAG 30Nov15 - DANGER SPOT: The intersection of Wiltons Rd with State Highway

The New Zealand Transport Agency has won support for its plan to lower the speed limit on State Highway 2 when cars are waiting to turn from East Taratahi and Wiltons roads.

Carterton District Council voted last Wednesday to support the installation of special signs that temporarily lower the speed limit, known as "rural intersection activated warning signs".

The signs are activated on the highway when the system detects vehicles waiting to turn from side roads, warning drivers turning traffic is ahead and instructs them to lower their speed to 70km/h.

The 70km/h zone, a legal speed limit, would extend about 175m from either side of intersections and are activated by a combination of radar and pressure sensors triggered by a car approaching from about 150m away from the corner.

In a letter previously sent to the council, NZTA senior safety engineer Steve James said the East Taratahi and Wiltons roads intersection was the most dangerous in Wairarapa, ranking in the top five high-risk intersections in the Greater Wellington region.

"Due to the number of injury crashes over the past five years, six in total, the death and serious injury equivalent is 1.7, which equates to a high-risk intersection."

Addressing the council on Wednesday, roading consultant Hamish Mackie said there had been no fatal or serious crashes at 10 sites trialling the signs. "We've found by and large actual speed reductions have been very close to that 70km/h when the sign has been activated. Crashes will always happen but the idea is that people don't pay for it with their lives."

The NZTA has been trialling the signs for about three years and two are already in operation at Himatangi and Bunnythorpe. Mr James said the signs were expected to be installed in late February or early March. Work on creating a flush median strip through the intersection is already under way and is expected to be completed by next week.