MANGAWHAI'S NO.1 NEWSPAPER
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New median barrier to make Dome Valley safer for all road usersDriving on State Highway 1 through the Dome Valley is about to become much safer with the installation of another 2.2km flexible wire rope barrier to prevent head-on crashes. It follows the installation of an 800m wire rope barrier at the Warkworth end of the safety improvements project just before Christmas. The Dome Valley improvements are part of Waka Kotahi’s commitment to help deliver Road to Zero, the government’s road safety strategy for 2020-2030, which aims to reduce deaths and serious injuries on our roads by 40 percent over the next 10 years. The new barrier will be installed in the road centre line south of Wayby Valley Road, from 70m south of Hoteo River Bridge to 100m north of Waitaraire Bridge. “The barrier will make a real and immediate safety difference for the travelling public in a high crash area,” says Waka Kotahi NZTA national manager infrastructure delivery, Andrew Thackwray. “This is a busy winding state highway and the barrier, along with other safety improvements, will keep traffic separated and safe.” Median barriers prevent head-on crashes, which is how most people are killed or seriously injured on our roads. They can reduce deaths and serious injuries by 70-80 percent. When a vehicle hits a wire rope barrier the high-tension wire cables flex, slowing down the vehicle and redirecting it back into the middle of the road to prevent collisions with roadside hazards or oncoming vehicles. The flexibility in the wire rope also means the barrier absorbs impact energy, reducing the force on the people in the vehicles, resulting in less severe injuries than other safety barrier systems. Installation of the barrier will start on Thursday, 4 March during the day. The work will take about two weeks, with the hours of work subject to Covid-19 alert levels and weather. There’s also daytime stop/go traffic management at two project sites either side of the Dome Valley summit this week as crews work on reinforcing roadside embankments. As well as the median safety barriers, other safety improvements in the Dome Valley include widening the existing road, additional roadside barriers to ‘catch’ vehicles running off the road, embankment reshaping and construction of right hand turn bays. Motorists are advised to plan ahead and allow extra time for their journeys through the Dome Valley. Check the Waka Kotahi journey planner for latest road works information.
The centre line wire rope barrier to be like the one installed by Sheepworld on SH1, north of Warkworth, before Christmas. PHOTO/SUPPLIED |
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