Safety improvements for SH3 between New Plymouth and Egmont Village progress this month

Ground investigations and surveying of State Highway 3 between New Plymouth and Egmont Village get underway this month. Photo / Andrew Warner

Safety improvements are a step closer for State Highway 3 between New Plymouth and Egmont Village as ground investigations and surveying get underway this month.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency director regional relationships Linda Stewart says proposed safety improvements include a new roundabout at Mangorei Rd, median barriers, turning facilities and safety signs at Junction St.

"There were 77 crashes on this section of the highway between 2016 and 2020, resulting in nine serious injuries."

The improvements will make the Mangorei Rd intersection safer and help prevent head-on crashes on the busy commuter route.

"We look forward to providing the community with an update on the investigation and design work later in the year and hearing their feedback on the draft designs," she says.

Following work to identify safety improvements between New Plymouth and Hāwera in 2018, the 9.7km stretch of highway between New Plymouth and Egmont Village was prioritised for design funding due to its poor safety record.

Waka Kotahi is continuing to investigate improvements for the wider New Plymouth and Hāwera corridor.

Crews will be onsite from next week through to the end of August surveying the land and testing the ground conditions on the road and roadside. There are about 12 days and nights of work to complete. All investigations will take place inside the legal road boundary.

To keep road workers and everyone using the road safe, there will be traffic management in place, including temporary reduced speed limits where the team is working.

Lanes will be narrowed or diverted with cones to allow contractors a safe space to complete their work. In some areas Stop/Go traffic management will be required.

These safety improvements are delivering to New Zealand's Road Safety Strategy, Road to Zero 2020–2030, which aims to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads by 40 per cent over the next decade.