Turning some Northland roads that have heavy truck use into the country's newest state highway has been welcomed by a national trucking body as a chance to reduce accidents.
On Monday the New Zealand Transport Agency formally designated State Highway 15, comprising Te Pua, Mangakahia, Otaika Valley and Loop roads.
The 127km stretch of road plagued by heavy logging traffic becomes part of Northland's State Highway network which could make it easier to improve safety on the stretch.
NZTA is the new administrator of the route, which runs from Kaikohe to Marsden Pt and provides access between about 50,000ha of production forest and North Port.
The roads had previously been the responsibility of the Whangarei or Far North district councils and have seen numerous accidents in recent years, with many involving trucks.