A busy season of roadworks is in store for Southland motorists over the next six months and motorists are being asked to help keep road crews safe.
Highways South, on behalf of the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), will be engaged in road reconstruction and resurfacing projects from now until autumn as daylight hours increase, and the warmer temperatures and dry air help new seals stick to the road surface.
More than 70km of state highway in the region will be reconstructed or resurfaced in the next six to seven months.
With roadworks will come temporary traffic management, which may include temporary speed limits, signs, cones and mobile traffic lights.
"This helps keep our road workers, road users and their vehicles safe. It also allows these construction and resurfacing projects to be completed successfully and on time," the NZTA said.
NZTA Southland maintenance contract manager Justin Reid said keeping everyone safe while this intense period of work was under way was something all road users could help with.
While he appreciated delays due to traffic management at road works could be frustrating, most of the time these were limited to a five-minute delay at each work site and safety was always the primary concern.
“Speeding through work sites continues to be a significant problem in Southland, which is dangerous to everyone, Mr Reid said.
"Motorists have less control at higher speeds and can lose control completely on uneven roadwork surfaces.”
Even when there appeared to be no-one on site working, it may leave temporary speed limits in place due to reduced visibility, loose road surfaces or obstructions, bad forecasted weather or to protect more vulnerable road users like motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians.
“If speeding at road work sites continues to put our road workers and other road users at risk, traffic management such as road closures could be used, which would be significantly more disruptive to road users and are a last resort,” Mr Reid said.
