Government announces $22.5 million worth of improvements will be made to rural roads this summer

December 17, 2017
Other roads will also be considered for the new speed once construction is complete, such as the southern section of the Christchurch motorway and the Kapiti expressway.

Rural State highways across the country are set to be improved with "rumble strips, signage and safety barriers" as part of a $22.5 million short term funding boost this summer. 

Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter made the announcement this morning and stated rural State highways in Northland, Taranaki, Manawatū-Whanganui, Canterbury, Otago and Southland will benefit from the funding. 

"The number of people losing their lives on our roads has increased every year for the past five years. When things are this bad government has a responsibility to act," said Ms Genter.

"The Boost Safety Programme is the first step. Improvements will include rumble strips, signage and safety barriers on rural roads where there is a real risk of death and serious injuries.

"Many deaths and injuries can be avoided on these roads by making some relatively simple changes. For example, we know rumble strips can reduce all crashes by around 25 percent and fatal run-off-road crashes by up to 42 percent."

Ms Genter said the funding has been re-allocated from within the State highways budget. 

She added road safety improvements will continued to be made next year when the Government further increases funding when the overall transport budget is revised. 

"The Government will hold a road safety summit early next year so that we can hear directly from councils about the barriers to and opportunities for improving road safety," said Ms Genter.


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