A curve and a shop entrance that have figured in nine crashes in a decade will be smoothed and removed in what could be a $5 million job on the highway north of Dunedin.
The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) has applied for resource consent to start the long-mooted realignment of the so-called Waitati curve on State Highway 1.
The application will affect about 1km of highway, stretching about 400m north and 600m south of Harvey St, in a project that has been in the agency's sights since 2005.
The two-year project will soften the curve by shifting it away from the coast and across land now running parallel to the northbound lane.
It will also shift the Blueskin General Store to about where Harvey St intersects with the highway's southbound lane.
Store joint-operator Brent Bell yesterday said NZTA would pay for the move and would compensate any losses incurred when the store shut to move to a new building on a temporary site on Harvey St, before the building was shifted to its permanent home.
The shift was still "a great unknown": the store was well supported by the community but it could lose a chunk of its casual custom when it was moved off the main road, Mr Bell said.
"We don't want to see anyone hurt on the road, and we support anything that will make it safer. But we know that we are moving into some pretty uncertain territory."
NZTA crash data shows 17 reported crashes occurred in the area in the 10 years to the end of 2009.
Four involved southbound drivers losing control on the curve at Harvey St, while five involved vehicles stopping at or leaving the store.
NZTA's consent application says the realignment would correct a roading scheme that was "out of context" for the high-speed driving environment.
Drivers negotiated a curve cut by an intersection in a stretch of road complicated by property accessways and traffic to and from the store.
NZTA project team leader Simon Underwood said the start date for the two-year project, originally notified as January, would depend on the resource consent process.
The design - including safety barriers, pedestrian and cycle paths, turning lanes, car-pool parks and bus stops, landscaping, new property accessways, a traffic island and an extended Harvey St - had been adapted after talking to the community.
NZTA originally estimated the project would cost between $3.4 million and $5 million, but that would be reviewed after the consent process, Mr Underwood said.
The highway would operate largely as normal for at least the first 12 months of construction. That meant there would be very few disruptions when Dunedin hosted its Rugby World Cup games next September.
Waikouaiti Coast Community Board chairman Alasdair Morrison said the agency's plans appeared to incorporate many of the suggestions raised by the community, but people should air any concerns during the consent process.
Submissions close on September 17.
