Ground investigations and surveying are about to get underway on State Highway 3 between New Plymouth and Egmont Village as part of safety improvements from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.

Proposed safety improvements include a new roundabout at Mangorei Road, median barriers, turning facilities and safety signs at Junction Street.

“There were 77 crashes on this section of the highway between 2016 and 2020, resulting in nine serious injuries,” said Waka Kotahi director regional relationships Linda Stewart.

The improvements will make the Mangorei Road intersection safer and help prevent head on-crashes on the busy commuter route.

“We look forward to providing the community with an update on the investigation and design work later in the year and hearing their feedback on the draft designs,” said Stewart.

Following work to identify safety improvements between New Plymouth and Hāwera in 2018, the 9.7km stretch of highway between New Plymouth and Egmont Village was prioritised for design funding due to its poor safety record.

Waka Kotahi is continuing to investigate improvements for the wider New Plymouth and Hāwera corridor.

Crews will be onsite from next week through to the end of August surveying the land and testing the ground conditions on the road and roadside. There are about 12 days and nights of work to complete. All investigations will take place inside the legal road boundary.

The safety improvements are delivering to New Zealand’s Road Safety Strategy, Road to Zero 2020 – 2030, which aims to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on New Zealand roads by 40% over the next decade.