KEY POINTS:
Police issued more than 100 speeding tickets on New Zealand's newest stretch of state highway before its official opening yesterday.
The road, past Mangatawhiri in northern Waikato, eliminates a dangerous winding stretch of road on the main route between Auckland and Thames.
Transport Minister Steven Joyce congratulated the Transport Agency for completing the $46 million bypass in time to reduce the risks for holidaymakers.
"During holiday periods this stretch of road is particularly busy and unfortunately it has a poor track record when it comes to safety," he told about 150 people, including children from three local primary schools, at a tree-planting ceremony outside the Maramarua Golf Club, at the eastern end of the new bypass.
"The crashes on this route have included a large number of fatalities and I know the impact of these deaths is keenly felt by the whole community here."
But Mr Joyce, opening the first of what he hoped would be "many" new roads, came under immediate pressure on his arrival from community leaders seeking early starts to work on other parts of the 34km Maramarua Highway between Pokeno and the eastern turnoff to Thames at Mangatarata.
Environment Waikato chairman Peter Buckley told the Herald he supported the Waikato Expressway on State Highway 1 as the Government's priority for completion, but he was concerned about "black spots" on both ends of the new stretch past Mangatawhiri.
Local volunteer fire brigade chief Don Shanks shared Mr Buckley's disappointment that a narrow bridge at the western end of the bypass has not been replaced, and said he was concerned at a lack of median barriers to separate opposing traffic.
Mr Joyce said median barriers should be everywhere, ... "but there are cost realities that intervene".
He said the new road was a huge improvement on what it had replaced - a stretch on which the Transport Agency says crashes claimed nine lives in the past five years.
These deaths were among 28 fatalities on the 34km route to Mangatarata.
But Mr Joyce said he would be keen to receive reports on the new road's safety performance, as well as briefings on two more projects, through the Kopuku and Maramarua sections of the highway, to the east.
Although construction budgeted at up to $180 million has not been programmed to start on those until at least 2011, Mr Joyce said the new Government was examining all major roading projects to see "whether they are going fast enough and how we can speed them".
The new road is not the four-lane highway locals wanted, but it is much straighter than the old road and has longer passing lanes, of 2km for westbound traffic and 1.8km for eastbound.
Contractors have also completed earthworks for a second eastbound passing lane, near the golf club, for when funding becomes available.
The road also has more grassed runoff areas than its precedessor, which was undulating and left little or no room for error for the 25,000 vehicles using it daily on some holiday weekends.
But police said yesterday that they had issued 110 speeding tickets since Friday, when the road was opened - with a 70km/h speed limit - to traffic "bed in" new seal.
Road patrol commander Sergeant Harry Watt, of Pokeno, said many tickets were for drivers exceeding 100km/h and in once instance reaching 125km/h.
Another had outrun a patrol car at 150km/h.
Counties-Manukau road policing commander Inspector Heather Wells acknowledged a risk that the road would become a speed trap, but said it would be heavily patrolled throughout the holiday period.
