Speed camera installation along Kaitāia-Awaroa Road

Work to install four average speed cameras, signage, guardrails, and improve drainage on Kaitāia-Awaroa Road will begin Monday 28 July.

Stop-go traffic management will be in place once work starts and NZTA Waka Kotahi (NZTA) advises motorists using this stretch of road to allow extra travel time while the work is underway.

As work progresses, traffic management will reduce. Installation of the cameras is expected to be completed by mid-September.

Kaitāia-Awaroa Road is a crash high-risk area, heavily affected by traffic volumes. A speed survey conducted by NZTA on the road in May 2024 found that 75 per cent of drivers were speeding. Despite an 80km/h speed limit along one section and a 60km/h limit along another section of the road, the average speed of drivers was 89km/h. The aim of the average speed safety cameras is to encourage all drivers to observe speed limits and reduce the number of serious road crashes occurring on the road.

Average speed cameras work together to measure the average speed of drivers travelling through the monitored stretch of Kaitāia-Awaroa Road. Drivers will only be ticketed if their average travel speed between any two cameras is over the limit. They will not be ticketed by a single camera or at a single point where they are over the speed limit.

The cameras will be located at; near Sandhills Road (at the Ahipara end); near the 80km/h speed limit sign (at the Kaitāia end); the speed limit sign near 655 Kaitāia-Awaroa Road; and the speed limit sign near 854 Kaitāia-Awaroa Road.