Upgrade work is ramping up on a $60 million investment programme in the alternate state highway route between Picton and Christchurch while the reconstruction of State Highway 1 through Kaikoura is underway.
“The Government’s investment in the alternate route includes a range of road improvements to make the journey safer and more resilient,” says transport minister Simon Bridges.
“Several sections of the road have been widened, and 36 kilometres of the route has been resealed or repaired to help the road cope with the increase in traffic, with a further 22 kilometres to be resealed before winter,” he says.
“Three new Bailey bridges have also been installed alongside permanent one-way bridges at Upper Buller and Homestead Creek west of St Arnaud and Speargrass Creek allowing traffic to flow safely in both directions.” says Bridges.
Slow vehicle bays have also been installed in several locations and speeds have been reduced in high-risk areas, with a strong Police presence on the route to help manage driver behaviour and speed.
“Traffic numbers on the road have increased by more than four times since the Kaikoura earthquake in November. The Government is focussed on making the road as safe and easy to use as possible,” says Bridges.
He says on top of the improvements already made to the road; the NZ Transport Agency is now focussing on preparing the Lewis Pass route to cope with higher volumes of traffic this winter safely.
“While work is continuing at the pace to restore State Highway 1 through Kaikoura between Picton and Christchurch, it’s vital we ensure that people can travel safely on the alternate route through Murchison and the Lewis Pass,” says Bridges.
Other measures to improve safety along the road include a short-range cell site is being installed at Boyle River in April to improve mobile phone coverage.
Traffic signals have been installed on the one-lane Maruia Bridge to ensure travellers in both directions can cross safely.
There are now Six radars measuring traffic volume and speed along the route. The radars also differentiate between vehicle sizes and can determine how many cars or larger vehicles are travelling at any given time.
Webcams are also in the above areas along with Waipara and Blenheim. The images are used on social media to provide travel updates.
