A new turning lane will be constructed on State Highway 1 to make it easier for motorists heading to a new caravan park near Picton.
The site has been the scene of three known crashes within a five-year period — including one involving a vehicle towing a caravan.
That park will be open only to New Zealand Motor Caravan Association members, a condition of a resource consent granted after an appeal to the Environment Court.
The association was initially denied consent for the site because there was no right-turn lane on the highway. It had applied to the Marlborough District Council to subdivide a property in Koromiko, so it could operate a caravan park for short-term stays.
The privately-owned property on Freeths Rd already had a camping site which had been open for the better part of 20 years, however, the council had no idea it did not have a resource consent until the caravan association made contact with the council’s duty planner.
Caravan association (NZMCA) property and policy national manager James Imlach said the council denied the application due to safety concerns at the intersection of State Highway 1 and Freeths Rd, which had been raised by the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA).
“NZMCA appealed the decision and through that process we reached an arrangement with NZTA to construct the right turn bay into Freeths Rd, which addresses their safety concerns,” Imlach said.
NZTA said on Friday that construction of the new right-turn bay would start at the end of this month.
Road crews would be on-site for about eight weeks from January 27, weather permitting, from 7pm to 6am, Sunday to Thursday, and under stop/go traffic management.
The construction of the turning bay would widen the southbound lane of SH1 between Picton Golf Course and 100m south of Freeths Rd.
A flush median would extend from the right-turn bay to Picton Golf Club, NZTA said.
About 6000 vehicles travelled on SH1 between Picton and Tuamarina each day, and the new turning bay would make it safer for traffic turning onto Freeths Rd, NZTA said.
Imlach said the camping site provided members travelling in certified self-contained motorhomes and caravans with a “safe and convenient place” to park overnight while they travelled to and from the Picton ferry terminal.
He said members often drove long distances to cross the strait and the ferry journey could add to their fatigue, particularly if there were delays due to poor weather conditions or they disembarked at night.
“So having a site close to the terminal for members to rest is necessary,” Imlach said.
Two vehicles, waiting to turn, hit from behind
A NZTA senior road safety engineer who presented evidence at the consent hearing in 2023 said three crashes between 2017 and 2021 involved vehicles making right-hand turns into Freeths Rd, two of which involved vehicles hit from behind.
In another instance, a vehicle towing a caravan made the right turn, but a log truck had to brake heavily and swerved into the opposing lane. This resulted in a southbound vehicle taking evasive action and swerving into a paddock.
The decision at the time, from independent commissioner Gary Rae, said there was not enough room for traffic to pass on the inside of traffic held up waiting to make the right turn off SH1.
In its appeal to the Environment Court, the caravan association said any adverse effects on traffic were due to “existing deficiencies in the local state highway network”, not the consent application.
Drivers could expect delays of about five minutes when driving through Koromiko while the project was being completed.
Road users, particularly those with ferry connections in Picton, should allow extra time for their journeys, NZTA said.
NZTA said there would be other night works happening at the same time on SH1, such as resealing of the roundabout at the intersection of SH1 and SH6, the roundabout at the intersection of SH1 and Main St, and the Weld Pass.
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