State Highway 23 will get a fixed speed camera between Te Mata Rd and Van Houte Rd as part of the Safer Journeys road safety strategy.
The Static Camera Expansion Programme will see the expansion of New Zealand’s static camera fleet to 56 high crash risk locations across the road network, including the Raglan-Hamilton highway.
The programme selects sites for static cameras where there is an identified crash risk, and/or where research shows a history of crashes causing death and/or serious injury.
Police, in conjunction with the New Zealand Transport Agency and independent transportation sector expert Abley Transportation Consultants, developed methodology to identify locations that have a proven history of crashes or potential for crashes resulting in death or serious injury.
SH23 is classified as a high-risk rural road, and in the stretch of highway between Waitetuna and Raglan between 2004 and 2014 there were 163 crashes where two people died and 23 were seriously injured.
Research shows that police enforcement is a crucial part of improving compliance with speed limits and reducing death and serious injury on our roads.
A go-live date for the camera is yet to be confirmed, and the camera will be placed in a relatively straight length of the road.
Major works to improve the safety of SH23 are due to get underway later this year, including shoulder widening, better signage and intersection improvements.
The work is being done in three stages, beginning with the 21km stretch of highway between Raglan and Waitetuna. Construction of improvements between Hamilton and Highbrook Way is likely to begin in 2018, while options for the final section of the road – between Highbrook Way and Waitetuna – are still being considered.
Inger Vos
