Footpath needed for school kids
A near-miss between a van and a pupil of Longburn Adventist College has seen all pupils banned from walking or cycling to and from the school.
The problem is the lack of a footpath or berm on Walkers Rd, where the college is located.
The ban was introduced after the incident six months ago, when one of three girls walking on the road early in the morning was side-swiped by a courier van. She landed in a ditch.
College principal Brendan van Oostreen said the girl suffered severe bruising to her hip, and a doctor who assessed her said it was a miracle she had not been killed.
After that, students were forbidden from walking on the road.
‘‘It was a death waiting to happen,’’ he said.
Van Oostreen said the incident followed another a few years ago, when a teacher running on the road was hit by a vehicle, needing weeks in hospital and taking months to recover.
The college and several Walkers Rd residents have asked the Palmerston North City Council to install a pathway, with van Oostreen speaking at the first of a series of annual budget submission hearings on Wednesday.
He said the dangers with the road included that it was narrow, there was no berm to walk on off the main carriageway, the speed limit was 70kmh and there were a lot of truck movements.
A safe pathway would enable some 260 pupils and about 100 other young people living down the road to get to the Palmerston North to Longburn shared pathway, which was officially opened in 2015.
Van Oostreen said it was like the college pupils, including its 70 boarders, were living on an island.
He said it was sad that 17-yearolds could not travel between the college and the city independently.
Instead, they relied on a shuttle to take them to the end of the road, where a crossing with flashing warning lights had been installed to link to the pathway on the other side of the state highway.
The city council has a project in its budget to install the Walkers Rd pathway.
However, at the moment, it suggests the community should have to raise $120,000 to pay for it, with the council putting in just $10,000.
Van Oostreen said he was mystified about where that funding formula had come from.
‘‘I’m a little bewildered. I hope you are not asking us to do lots of sausage sizzles, because I do not think that’s appropriate.’’
After the hearing, mayor Grant Smith said it was clear there was a safety issue the council had to address, and the confusion about paying for it had to be cleared up.
Van Oostreen said he felt councillors had listened to him, and the issues could be resolved.
A total of 23 people supported fast-tracking development of the pathway.
Walkers Rd resident Kevin Gredig said in a written submission that the pathway would benefit everyone who lived there, whether walking or driving.
He said as a walker, he had often ended up in long grass and mud, getting off the road to make way for vehicles.
And as a motorist, he often had to slow down and take evasive action to avoid pedestrians.
Gavin Cornfoot, a college employee who regularly rode between Awapuni and Longburn, said it was difficult to ‘‘enjoy’’ the ride because of the lack of safety on the 700-metre stretch of Walkers Rd.
A doctor who assessed her said it was a miracle she had not been killed.