Raglan cycle champion, John Lawson has been trying to get answers out of the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) for eight months on how their safety improvements on SH 23 will impact cyclists. John hasn’t had any luck and the latest December update from NZTA doesn’t mention cyclists at all:
Waitetuna to Raglan (SH23) & Hamilton to Highbrook Way (SH23)• Early works have been completed• Three short sections of side safety barrier have been installed in areas where there is a high risk of run-off-road crashes• Rumble strips have been applied to the centreline along almost all of this 21km on the Waitetuna to Raglan section of SH23• The bulk of the safety improvements will start to be delivered in early 2018. This will involve similar treatments as the early works, as well as improvements to some intersections. More pull over bays for slower vehicles may also be built. Investigations are continuing in regards to SH23 through Te Uku• The next stage of the programme will get underway in 2018, when work begins between Hamilton and Highbrook Way
The main page of the Safer Roads website makes no mention of cyclists and only discusses vehicle safety although this report covers what needs to be done to improve safety for cyclists. (See photo). The NZTA report says, ” Where pedestrians and cyclists are involved in open road crashes, the outcomes are typically severe, due to the often high speeds of traffic and the human body’s limited tolerance of crash forces at speeds
above 40km/h. As a result nearly two thirds of all New Zealand cyclist fatalities and one third of all pedestrian fatalities happen on rural roads. Clearly the personal risk to each cyclist and pedestrian is very high so where they are present their safety needs are important. ”