The Bay of Plenty is in line for the Government's $1.4 billion Safe Network Programme.
The three-year programme to make New Zealand's highest risk roads safer will first be rolled out in Waikato, Auckland and Canterbury – and Bay of Plenty will follow after 2020.
The Safe Network Programme will make 870km of high volume, high-risk state highways safer by 2021 with improvements like median and side barriers, rumble strips, and shoulder widening.
The programme will target an estimated $600 to $700 million to state highway safety improvements and $700 to $800 million to local road safety improvements. Once complete, the improvements are expected to prevent 160 deaths and serious injuries every year.
Transport Minister Phil Twyford says the Safe Network Programme will build urgent safety improvements on our roads at scale and pace during the next three years to save lives.
'Drivers will inevitably make mistakes and the Government's job is to stop those mistakes turning into tragedies.
'This year, far too many New Zealanders have lost their lives or been seriously injured in crashes that could have been prevented by road safety upgrades.”
Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter says the Government believes it's unacceptable for anyone to be killed or seriously injured on NZ roads.
'Annual road deaths in New Zealand increased from 253 just a few years ago in 2013, to 378 last year. The number of serious injuries increased from 2020 to 2836 per year during the same period.
'Local councils will be offered a higher level of central government funding to fix high-risk, local and regional roads. More than half of all fatal crashes happen on local roads and we recognise central government funding will help make these roads safer sooner.”
A programme of local road safety projects is already under development with the first projects expected to begin next year.
New Zealand Transport Agency will also speed up the time it takes to deliver safety projects by fast-tracking the approval process for standard, proven safety improvements.