Wellington Regional Office
Media Release

Wednesday 16 June 2004

Improved Safety Barrier Along Centennial Highway

A stronger, safer guardrail along Centennial Highway, between Pukerua Bay and Paekakariki, will be installed over the next few weeks.

The existing wooden guardrail will be replaced with a steel barrier, from Pukerua Bay northwards, complimenting similar work carried out at the Paekakariki end of the highway last year.

The guardrail replacement is another in a series of safety improvements to this section of SH1.

Extra signage, improved lighting, audible double yellow lines and the removal of passing lanes, have substantially reduced the number of fatalities and serious injury incidents.

The total number of reported accidents a year has decreased by 43 percent, from 23 crashes down to 13 crashes a year, with the injury crash rate has dropping by almost 70 percent since 2000.

Safety engineer Stanley Chesterfield says: “We hope that installing the guardrail will further reduce the crash rate and the number of serious injury accidents.”

Motorists can expect some delays while the barrier is being replaced, however, most of the work will be carried out at night to ensure disruptions are kept to a minimum.

ENDS

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