The Southern Highway of Chch moves to the limit of 110 kmh

On Sunday, drivers traveling in and out of Christchury to the south will be able to travel at 110 kilometers per hour in a 17.7 km section of State Highway 1 and State Highway 76 from East Curlett Road exchange in Addington, west of Weedons’ exchange in Rolloston.

It is the first speed limit of 110 km/h to the South Island, said Transport Minister Chris Bishop, and with up to 38,000 vehicles a day on the route, the highest speed limit would help to take people and the freight where they need to go quickly and safely.

Bishop was confident that increasing speed limit would have no impact on safety, as the Christchurch Southern highway was built with a high safety standard, with two lanes in each direction, a flexible median barrier, smooth alignment and good visibility.

The road began under the last national government as a path of national meaning, said Bishop, and had already offered strong security benefits, better travel times and reliability and less congestion.

NZTA’s consultation about increased speed limit attracted almost 4000 submissions, of which 68 % were in support – and more strongly in support, he said.

The Associated Transport Minister and Southern Island Minister James Meager said the change was positive and road safety was taken into consideration.

“We are very confident that the increase will not have an impact on road safety, and we are confident that we can also do this in other parts of the country – where the roads are well built.

“And this reinforces the importance of growth so that we have the resources to create better high quality quality.”

Meager said the increase in the speed limit would save hundreds of hours every day at waiting time, time people would spend on traffic.

“This shows that when you can create high quality safe roads, it can increase speed limits in a safe way that they really lead more people to move from A to B quickly and efficiently.

“This means people, goods, climbing the roads, going out for work, in ports, boats, exports outside the country – everything is really great for the south island.”

Meager said other improvements in the Canterbury roads in the work include:

• SH1 Belfast for Pegasus and Woodend Bypass

• SH76 Brougham Street Updates

• SH75 HALSWELL ROAD IMPROVEMENTS

• Access improvements to SH1 Rolleston

• The second bridge of Ashburton.

Near the end of its 2024 – 2027 planning period, NZTA would also be considering the future capacity necessary between ports Lyttelton and Timaru – including SH1, SH76 and SH74, Meager said. This may include the replacement of SH1 bridges, considering the role of railroad and observes the potential of four track roads in the corridor.