A new generation of fixed speed cameras is coming to Auckland, with work on six sites getting underway this week.

Motorists will see new poles and camera housings being put in place at three new sites: Mill Road and Murphy's Road in Totara Park, and Candia Road in Henderson Valley.

Two existing sites will also be upgraded, enabling cameras using wet film technology to be replaced at Great South Road, Otahuhu, and Great North Road in Kelston.

Construction work at these five sites is due for completion by 10 October.

Work to construct a sixth site, on Tamaki Drive, will start next week and is scheduled to be completed by the end of October.

All six cameras are scheduled to be switched to operational mode in November, after a period of testing.

Police announced in June that Auckland was to receive six of the first 12 next-generation digital fixed speed cameras being rolled out nationally.

The $10m road safety project will see 56 new digital cameras placed across the country in sites assessed as having a high risk of speed-related crashes.

The network will be fully operational by April 2016.

In an extensive site selection process, robust independent analysis based on 10 years of crash data was followed with extensive consultation with local experts.

'Our staff met with a wide range of stakeholders, including local representatives from Auckland Transport, the Auckland Motorway Alliance, the New Zealand Transport Agency, Road Transport Forum, the AA and others,” says Superintendent Carey Griffiths, National Manager of Road Policing.

'They know the roads like the backs of their hands, so their knowledge of local road and safety issues was invaluable to the decision-making process.”

Road policing staff also visited residents and businesses near each location to discuss any concerns.

'No issues were raised – in fact, we're consistently finding that people who live and work near these locations are delighted that something is being done about speeding traffic,” says Mr Griffiths.

The new cameras use a dual radar system to monitor up to six lanes of traffic flowing in both directions.

The first camera became operational in Ngauranga Gorge, Wellington, in July 2014.

Twelve cameras are being installed in the first phase of the rollout, which sees six digital cameras in Wellington and six in Auckland.

Locations of the 44 second phase cameras will be announced when Police has finished consultation with stakeholders.

Assistant Commissioner Road Policing, Dave Cliff, says the cameras are being introduced as part of the government's Safer Journey's strategy, which aims to make New Zealand roads increasingly free of death and serious injury.

'International research is clear: speed cameras reduce traffic speed and road crashes, and help to reduce injury severity.

Small reductions in speed greatly reduce the likelihood of a crash and increase the chances of surviving crashes that do occur.”

Source: New Zealand Police.