New Zealand

Work gets underway in May on making SH51 safer between Awatoto Road, in Napier, and Waitangi Bridge.

Source: Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency

Work to improve the safety along SH51 will now begin with the installation of flexible side and median barriers between Awatoto and Waitangi Roads from Monday 15 May

A blessing ceremony will take place this Monday (8 May) as scheduled, officially marking the start of stage one of the safety improvements project This will be followed by site preparation work for the project. Senior Project Manager Jacob Laird says ultimately Waka Kotahi wants to minimise any potential disruption to traffic during the safety improvements project

“We will be monitoring peak traffic flows while the barriers are being installed, to enable planning for future phases, including the possibility of a temporary roundabout “This project is funded under the Road to Zero Activity Class so it is separate to funding allocated to the cyclone recovery ”

During the construction period for this first stage, which is expected to be complete by late July, there will be traffic management in place, with crews working between 9am and 4pm Monday to Friday

Because of the width of the highway, we are able to keep two lanes of traffic open and we anticipate minimal impact on traffic flow

This project is a really important priority for Waka Kotahi, alongside the cyclone recovery work The work beginning this month is stage one of the project. Construction of stage two is expected to begin later this year with side and median barriers to be installed between Awatoto Rd and Ellison St

In 2024, a new permanent roundabout will be constructed at the SH51/Awatoto intersection.

“We want to improve safety in the area, and quickly. These safety improvements will save lives and prevent serious injuries on this section of highway The project builds on previous work done in this area to date to make this road safer for everyone ”