Road closure sign differences persist

An electric sign warning of road closures is to be installed on State Highway 1 in Palmerston within the next three months, despite opposition from the Waihemo Community Board.

The board wants the Variable Message Sign (VMS) placed on SH1 to the south of the District Rd corner so it can be seen by traffic travelling up District Rd from SH85 to SH1, but the New Zealand Transport Authority (NZTA) is to install the sign on SH1 by the Palmerston Community Centre in the town's centre.

NZTA journey manager Graeme Hall, of Dunedin, said NZTA consulted the board, the Palmerston Business Group, the St John Palmerston station and transport operators and decided the sign should go by the community centre because it would be a safer turning area.

The signs would most often be used when SH1 was closed due to weather, which had caused eight road closures on SH1 at points between Palmerston and Dunedin since April this year.

More VMS signs were planned, possibly including one for southbound traffic on SH1 at Oamaru, Mr Hall said.

Waihemo Community Board chairman Geoff Foote said there was still a ''lot of opposition'' in Palmerston to the proposed location of the sign in the Palmerston town centre.

Attempts to hold a public meeting to discuss its location had failed after Mr Hall declined to attend.

Opponents of the siting of the sign in the town centre now had nowhere else to go, Mr Foote said.

 

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