Postgate crossing here at last

Postgate School students will be able to walk home safely when a pedestrian crossing is installed on Omapere St in January 2013.

Parents have been struggling to get a crossing on the busy road for four years, Kapi-Mana News reported last week. But problems holding the crossing back will now be fast- tracked for the January deadline, says Peter Bailey, Porirua City Council’s general manager of asset management and operations. ‘‘We plan to overcome them.’’ Last week the council said the street did not have a high enough accident rate to merit a crossing.

A bus stop outside the school exit on Omapere St was another issue delaying the project.

The crossing cannot be installed immediately because work needs to be undertaken to ensure it is safely placed, Mr Bailey says.

The proposed site, just south of the BP station, is near a busy intersection with Postgate Dr and a tight corner, so signs are required to give motorists fair warning of the crossing, he says.

A new staff member is working on the crossing’s design, and a meeting next week will address problems to be overcome before January, Mr Bailey says.

Porirua City councillor Anita Baker is thrilled the school will finally get its crossing.

‘‘I’m absolutely rapt, as are the community,’’ she says.

A school road patrol has been given permission to operate on the new crossing, she says.