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Safety barriers on way for Nelson-Blenheim highway
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Safety barriers on way for Nelson-Blenheim highway
rnz.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rnz.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Roading bosses are horrified that a dangerous stretch of Marlborough highway has again been overlooked for funding, after they first requested the safety upgrades six years ago.
Weld Pass is a notoriously winding stretch of State Highway 1, through hills separating the Wairau and Awatere valleys.
Photo: SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF
Over the last 20 years, there have been two fatal crashes and 15 serious crashes along Weld Pass, south of Blenheim.
But instead of putting the notorious stretch forward for its next round of funding, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) proposed the already completed Ōpaoa River Bridge, its surprise State Highway 6 and State Highway 62 roundabout, and improvements by Picton s new ferry terminal.
Marlborough, Nelson and Tasman’s councils had been pushing for upgrades to the Weld Pass since 2015, estimated to cost $16 million, and dubbed it their “most significant project”. Vehicles had a “high probability” of plummeting off Weld Pass in a crash, made even more possible by the road s tight bends. “We have become a victim of the Government Policy Statement [on land transport]. The Government is prioritising other things, like improving cycleways and walkways,” Maher said. “If something is not done to that piece of road in the next 20 years, it will be like we re stepping back into the Dark Ages.”