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The new poles are about three metres high.
Auckland Transport (AT) has moved to quell residents’ fears after large poles appeared along Martins Bay Road in Mahurangi East.
One resident counted 70 poles recently erected along the road and bewildered as to their purpose and wants them gone.
Another resident guessed that the poles, which are about three metres tall, were part of new signage to be erected, but was horrified at the size of them.
The resident feared the poles would support massive signs, which would obstruct Martin Bay Road’s sea views.
AT spokesperson Natalie Polley says the poles are indeed for new road signage, but they will be no larger than conventional signage.
She says once poles are installed they are then cut to the correct height. This cannot be done until after the poles are in place because they are often installed in depressions and ditches, which means the required height will vary according to location.
The new signs are part of an AT rural delineation programme, which uses a variety of black and yellow signs to alert motorists to changing road alignments ahead, indicate safe speeds and improve the visibility of road alignment at night time.
In addition to the signs, AT will paint more white lines on the road in an effort to further enhance road safety.
The programme started last month and covers 64km of rural roads in the Rodney, Hibiscus and Franklin areas.
Between 2015 and 2019, there were 67 crashes in these areas that resulted in 19 deaths or serious injuries.
Ms Polley did not respond when asked if Martins Bay Road had an especially poor safety record, but did say the majority of injury crashes were due to a loss of control at bends.
The rural delineation programme is partly funded by the regional fuel tax and is an effort to reach AT’s goal of zero deaths or serious injuries in its transport systems by 2050.
Info: https://at.govt.nz/projects-roadworks/rural-delineation-programme/#details
