Innovative speed signs coming to New Zealand’s Waikato intersections
Innovative electronic speed signs will be installed at six Waikato intersections over the coming weeks.
The signs, known as Intersection Speed Zones, detect when a vehicle is turning into or out of a side road and temporarily reduce the legal speed limit on the state highway (from 100 km/h to either 60km/hr or 70km/h). They also do this when a driver is crossing the state highway from a side road.
Intersection speed zones are being installed at the following intersections:
- SH25 / Hauraki Road. This will temporarily reduce the speed on SH25 to 60km/h.
- SH1B (Gordonton Rd) / Taylor Road. This will temporarily reduce the speed on SH1B to 60km/h.
- SH1 / SH29. This will temporarily reduce the speed on SH1 to 60km/h.
- SH29 / Hopkins Road. This will temporarily reduce the speed on SH29 to 60km/h.
- SH29 / SH27. This will temporarily reduce the speed on SH29 to 60km/h.
- SH27 / Horrell Road. This will temporarily reduce the speed on SH27 to 70km/h.
An NZ Transport Agency Senior Manager Lisa Rossiter says Intersection Speed Zones are a simple, relatively quick improvement which has already proven to be effective both here and overseas.
“These intersections are at locations that have a high risk of serious crashes involving people turning out of the intersections, crossing the highway or turning right into a side road. By slowing oncoming traffic down, Intersection Speed Zones will help prevent these crashes and reduce the risk of someone being killed or seriously injured if a crash does happen,” says Ms Rossiter.
This work is part of the government’s $22.5 million Boost Safety Programme which includes a range of low-cost safety improvements to make 30 regional state highways safer. Other measures already in place include rumble strips on roads around the country.
Public consultation on the ten intersections was held from 5 to 30 March 2018, and the decision to install them was announced by the Associate Transport Minister in June.
