NZ Transport Agency Page 1

Background to this projectSafety on State Highway 1 between Spring Creek and Blenheim concerns many local residents - particularly through Grovetown. High speeds along the 100km/h speed limit area and a high level of heavy vehicle traffic have resulted in a number of serious crashes over the last five years.

Grovetown Safety Improvements

Project updateIssue 02 July 2013

Late last year, the NZTA asked you about ways to improve safety on this stretch of SH1. In this newsletter, we’ll tell you about the feedback we received and how it’s helped us make decisions on improving safety on this road. We would also like to take this opportunity to hear your views on extending the proposed 80km/hr speed limit between Blenheim and Grovetown right through to Spring Creek.

We hope you’ll agree that these plans will really improve safety for everyone using SH1, as well as for property owners between Spring Creek and Blenheim. We also look forward to hearing your views on the proposed speed changes.

What are the issues with this stretch of road?Only two sections of SH1 in the Marlborough region have a high safety risk: this one and the Weld Pass. Between 2002 and 2011 there were 96 crashes between Spring Creek and the Opawa Bridge, 15 of which were serious and involved 19 casualties. This stretch of the road has a number of complex intersections and access points, and because the railway line is so close to the road, the shoulder is narrow and difficult to widen.

What you told usIn late 2012, we asked what you thought about a number of possible safety improvements to this stretch of SH1, including:

• ReducingthespeedlimitbetweenSpringCreekandBlenheim

• ClosingVickermanStattheMillsandFordRd/MurraysRd/statehighway intersection.

• UpgradingtheAberhartsRd/RowleyCrescentintersection.

You told us that:

• AlmosteveryonewantstoseesafetyimprovedatallthestatehighwayintersectionsbetweenSpringCreekandtheLowerWairauRoad.

• 75%areinfavourofalowerspeedlimitto80km/h.

• OpinionisequallydividedaboutclosingVickermanStreet-halfareforitand half against. People who are against it are worried about increasing numbers of vehicles (especially heavy vehicles) that would have to stay onSH1untiltheFellStreetintersection.

NZ Transport Agency Page 2 For more information, visit www.nzta.govt.nz/grovetown

LOWER WAIRAU RD ABERHARTS RD

ROWLEY CRES

STACES RD

VICkERmAN ST

WATSONS RD

mURRAYS RD

mILLS AND FORD RD

Other things to think about

Along with your feedback, NZTA looked into the best ways to reduce risk for everyone using SH1 (including cyclists and pedestrians), as well as for nearby residents. We found that:

• WeagreedwithyourfeedbackthatclosingVickermanStreetwouldleadto more southbound heavy vehicles having to stay on SH1 longer (to FellStreet),andthatthiswouldnotimprove safety. The road will need to be widened so that we can put a right turn bay into the intersection at Mills & FordRoadandVickermanStreet.

• ThedeepdrainbesidethestatehighwayatVickermanStreetisasafetyhazard. It needs to either be piped and filled in or protected by a barrier.

• Wewillneedtowidentheroadtoputin a painted flush median for turning traffictoandfromStacesRoad,FellStreet,NolanStreet,Ross/Knights

What we plan to doAfter considering your feedback, doing our own investigations and weighing up all the options, the NZTA plans to:

• KeepVickermanStopen.ThesectionofSH1thatisnexttoVickermanStwill be widened, and we will put in deceleration (“slow down”) lanes and more noticeable line markings at the VickermanStandMills&FordRd/MurraysRdintersections.Wewillalsoput in right turn bays.

• Narrowthetrafficlanesandputinflushmedians and wider sealed shoulders throughout the 80km/hr zone. This will help turning vehicles and cyclists, as well as lower speed on this stretch of road.

• CutbackroadsidebushattheRowleysCrescent/AberhartsRdintersection.

Lane. The flush median will be in the centre of the road and marked with white diagonal lines.

• Theroadwillneedtobewidenedtoput right turn bays into Aberharts RoadandRowleyCrescentRoad.Thedeceleration (“slow down”) lane at RowleyCrescentwillberemoved.

• Ourinvestigationsshowthat80km/hr is the right speed limit from Staces Road(Grovetown)totheBlenheim50km/hr zone, and that the speed limit betweenSpringCreekandStacesRoadshould stay at 100km/h. However we could also extend the 80km/hr speed limit through to Spring Creek.

• Laneswillneedtobenarrowedthroughthe 80km/hr zone. This will allow us to widen the central median at the intersections and give cyclists a 1.5m sealed shoulder to ride on.

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PROPOSED SPEED REDUCTION FROM 100 TO 80KM/H

POSSIBLE SPEED REDUCTION FROM 100 TO 80KM/H

Existing: 50-100km/hProposed: 50-80km/h

Possible: 80-100km/h

TO OPAWA BRIDGE

NZ Transport Agency Page 3

ROSS LN

NOLANS RD STACES RD

FELL ST

FERRY RD

SPRINGCREEK

Tell us what you think about reducing the speed limit between Grovetown and Spring Creek

Our original plan was to reduce the speed limit through Grovetown from 100km/hr to 80km/hr.The80km/hrzonewastobeginjustnorthoftheStacesRoadintersectionandrunthroughtotheexisting50km/hzonenorthoftheOpawaRiverbridge.Therestoftheroad to Spring Creek was going to remain at 100km/h

However, we could also consider keeping the speed limit at 80km/hr right through to SpringCreek.Keepingthespeedlimitataconstant80km/hwouldhelppreventdriversbecoming confused on this stretch of road.

While our investigations showed that 100km/hr is a safe speed between Spring Creek andStacesRoad,therearealsobenefitsinloweringthespeedlimit.Forexample,drivingat80km/hrwouldreducetheseverityofanycrashesinthisarea,withonlya17seconddifference in travel time.

What do you think? Should we keep the speed limit at 80km/hr right through to Spring Creek? Will a constant speed of 80km/hr be less confusing for drivers? Or is 100km/hr the right speed for this short stretch of road?

If you’d like to make a submission on this issue, please contact Andrew James at andrew.james@nzta.govt.nz by 31 July 2013. The NZTA will also be consulting with Police, theAAandtheRoadTransportAssociationNZaboutthebestspeedlimitforthisarea.

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Legend

Provide right turn bay

Provide wide flush median for turning vehicles and remove high roadside vegetation to improve intersection visibility

Provide wide flush median for turning vehicles from the state highway

Retainrightturnbayandprovide left turn deceleration laneintoFellRd

Provide right turn bays into VickermanStandMillsandFordRd,pipeandfilldeepdrains and left turn deceleration laneintoVickermanSt

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PROPOSED SPEED REDUCTION FROM 100 TO 80KM/H

POSSIBLE SPEED REDUCTION FROM 100 TO 80KM/H

Proposed: 100-60km/hPossible: 80-60km/h

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Our contact details Andrew James

MarlboroughRoadsSeniorSafetyManager

NZ Transport Agency

Unit2.4,1stFloor,TheForum,MarketStreet

POBox1031,Blenheim7240

Email: andrew.james@nzta.govt.nz

Ph: 021 428 574

You can view information at www.nzta.govt.nz/grovetown

What happens next?We have already started work on piping the drainage ditch beside the VickermanStintersection.ThisshouldbefinishedinAugust2013.

Once we have feedback on the speed limit between Grovetown and Spring Creek, we will let you know the decision and start the formal process to put the new limit(s) in place.

We will start doing detailed designs for the road widening, line markings and intersection improvements in August 2013.

Our Safe System ApproachEveryone makes mistakes, but mistakes on the road canhaveseriousorevendeadlyconsequences.TheNZTA recognises that safer speeds and safer roads and roadsides make a real difference to preventing fatal and serious accidents on our roads, alongside safer vehicles on, and safer use of, the transport network . This “safe systems”approachhelpslimitcrashseverity-evenwhenmistakes happen.

ConclusionWe hope you’ll agree that these proposed changes will improve safety for everyone using SH1 between Spring Creek and Blenheim, as well as for the people who own property along this stretch of road.

We also hope you’ll take the time to let us know your thoughts on the speed limit between Grovetown and Spring Creek. Your feedback has been a vital part of our plans so far and we’d like to hear what you think about this issue as well.

If you’d like any more information about this work, please contact Andrew James at andrew.james@nzta.govt.nz