Transit Regional Office Auckland

26 March 2004

Transit acting to improve state highway safety north of Auckland

Transit New Zealand has embarked on three separate projects to improve state highway safety in Wellsford, Orewa and Helensville. All of the projects are scheduled to be completed by June says Transit Regional Manager Wayne McDonald.

SH1: Wellsford passing lane removal Transit is removing the existing southbound passing lane located north of Wellsford, and replacing it with a flush (painted) median.

This follows Transit’s Crash Reduction Studies (CRS) identifying that rear end crashes associated with the passing lane were becoming more prevalent. The CRS also showed a crash trend associated with the merge area near the intersection of SH1 with School Road.

The removal of the passing lane is expected to result in lower traffic speeds that are more consistent with the posted 70 km/h speed limit.

In addition, the provision of a painted median will provide a safer environment for vehicles to turn right at their property accesses.

SH1: Orewa - Moffat Road right turn bay Transit is providing a right turn bay for southbound traffic entering Moffat Road.

As part of its safety management system, Transit’s regular study of crash history on state highways has identified sites where crashes with common factors occur.

In the past five years, there have been six crashes at this site and a number of them involved right turning movements into Moffat Road.

Transit is responding to the concerns of local residents and the project has the full support of the local council. It is expected that the number of crashes at this site will significantly reduce following the introduction of this safety improvement.

SH 16: South of Helensville road marking and parking facility Transit is providing formal parking along the Baker Street straight on the northbound side of the state highway. This will give better control of parking and improve access control to existing entranceways. The existing wide shoulder will be used to provide parking areas adjacent to the Helensville River Reserve.

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