A $1.4 billion, three-year programme to make New Zealand’s highest risk roads safer will save lives, the government says.
The Safe Network Programme will see improvements like median and side barriers, rumble strips, and shoulder widening introduced to 870 kilometres of high volume, high-risk state highways by 2021.
The programme will target an estimated $600 to $700 million of state highway safety improvements and $700 to 800 million of local road safety improvements, with an estimated 160 deaths and serious injuries likely to be prevented every year.
“Drivers will inevitably make mistakes and it’s the government’s job is to stop those mistakes turning into tragedies,” transport minister Phil Twyford says.
“This year, far too many New Zealanders have lost their lives or been seriously injured in crashes that could have been prevented by road safety upgrades.”
Associate transport minister Julie Anne Genter says the annual road toll, which rose from 253 in 2013, to 378 last year is unacceptable.
“No other industry accepts hundreds of people dying each year as normal. No person I know thinks losing a loved one in a crash is an acceptable price to pay for living in a modern society – that’s why we’re making safety a priority.
“Local councils will be offered a higher level of central government funding to fix high-risk, local and regional roads. Over half of all fatal crashes happen on local roads and we recognise central government funding will help make these roads safer sooner.”
In addition the NZ Transport Agency will also speed up the time it takes to deliver safety projects by fast-tracking the approval process for standard, proven safety improvements.
