A piece of State Highway 1 that's been labelled a death trap will have its speed limit lowered as one of the new safety measures being implemented.

Crashes on the stretch of Waikato highway between Cambridge and Piarere have caused three recent deaths.

Ambulance driver Susan Cutler and Aucklander Deon Hadley were killed in September and a van driver a few weeks later.

The community has been 'crying out” for safety improvements, says Waka Kotahi's David Speirs.

They're coming, but an 80kmh speed limit is something the transport agency can do 'right now”.

It's one of several safety measures planned, says the director of regional relationships for the Waikato and Bay of Plenty region, and probably the most influential.

The temporary reduction from 100km to 80km will apply from north of Hickey Rd to south of the Karāpiro Rd/SH1 intersection.

Other safety improvements will be 'High Crash Area” signs and electronic warning signs.

There will also be rumble strips, hit sticks and edge marker posts, so tired or distracted drivers can be alerted or discouraged from cutting corners.

Wide painted median strips will be installed between the end of the expressway and Fergusson Gully Rd to provide more space between opposing traffic.

The 80kmh limit will apply from north of Hickey Rd to south of the Karāpiro Rd/SH1 intersection, until permanent safety upgrades are in place. Image: Google Maps.

Speirs says while their mahi on the longer term 16km expressway is also progressing, but these are things that can be done right now to save lives.

The temporary speed restriction will remain until the planned permanent safety infrastructure is installed. The wide painted centre lines are also an interim measure while Waka Kotahi prepares to install flexible median barriers.

'Up to 75 per cent of the people who die or are seriously injured on rural roads have either had a head-on collision, or have run off the road, and the proven solution to preventing head-on crashes is to physically separate opposing traffic, using flexible median barriers.

'If someone loses control or drifts across the centreline, the result isn't a deadly crash; instead, the steel cables flex, absorb the impact, slow your vehicle and keep it upright.”

More than 4km of flexible median barriers have already been installed between Cambridge and Piarere which have been hit 40 times, and Waka Kotahi says without the barrier any of those incidents had the potential to be a head-on crash.

Starting in December, more flexible median barriers will be installed, just south of Maungatautari Rd.

During this time the road will be resurfaced and the short southbound passing lane will be taken out.

Early next year, more flexible median barriers will be installed from where the current median barrier finishes to past Kentucky Rd.

This will mean there will be a total of 7.7km of flexible median barriers installed from Fergusson Gully Rd to near the SH1/SH29 intersection.

Designs are in process to install further median barriers and other safety features from the end of the Waikato Expressway through to Fergusson Gully Rd, including large and safe turnaround bays, and a roundabout for the intersection of SH1 and Karāpiro Rd.

This safety improvement work will be done in sections, but scheduled to be completed within the next two years.

-Stuff.