Motorists driving south between Oamaru and Edendale on State Highway 1 will soon notice more "rumble strips" fitted along the roadside as authorities bump up the number of strips they claim can help save lives on the road.
The New Zealand Transport Agency yesterday confirmed more strips will be installed on both sides of the highway near Milton but also at other spots totalling 130km south of Waitaki to the Southland township of Edendale.
It will spend about $10.6 million on the strips throughout Otago and Southland.
The cost of buying and installing the strips is estimated at about $13,000 each kilometre.
The rumble strips are raised road markings used along road edges and centrelines.
When vehicles drive over them, the rumbling effect acts as a wake-up call, alerting drivers that they are veering out of their lane.
High-risk stretches of the highway have been targeted first.
The straight stretch of road north of Milton, towards Milburn and Waihola, will be one area targeted as the rumble strips are installed between now and the end of April.
The agency's Otago-Southland regional director, Bruce Richards, said new research points strongly to the safety benefits offered by rumble strips, especially in reducing crashes caused by driver fatigue and inattention.
"Tired drivers die and running over rumble strips may be a sign for drivers that they need to take a rest.
This is an investment in making the region's roads safer," he said.
Most of the southern rumble-strip work will see them laid along road edge lines, but on some busier roads with high crash rates, centreline strips will also be installed.
Nationally, the agency will install strips on 750km of state highways by the end of June this year.
This will more than double the length of the highway network fitted with the strips.
