Signs light up for safer crossing
Feilding schoolchildren should now have safer passage over one of the town’s busiest and most dangerous roads.
However, further trafficcalming measures, such as traffic lights, could be years away.
Electronic flashing signs have been placed on the Lytton St and East St intersection, along Kimbolton Rd-state Highway 54.
‘‘This is where the vast majority of primary and intermediate schoolchildren cross the state highway to get to school,’’ New Zealand Transport Agency spokesman Ross I’anson said.
The signs come after repeated calls for action and near misses along the town’s busiest commuter route.
The walking-pace crawl for motorists along Kimbolton Rd, towards town, can start as early as 8am, with a nearby rail line often halting commuters at the busiest roundabout in the heart of Feilding.
Streams of parents dropping off children at Lytton Street School favour turning left and finding the sanctuary of a turning bay rather than attempt a rightturn at the hectic crossing. The same manoeuvring occurs at 3pm, after school.
A petition urging the transport agency to take action and install either roundabouts or traffic lights attracted more than 1800 signatures last year, and organiser Sue James is still collecting crash data at each intersection.
Meanwhile, the agency continues to consider Feilding a low priority, with congestion no worse than other parts of the region. ‘‘We will continue to look at other possible options for safety improvements, which we will put forward for consideration in the 2021-2024 National Land Transport Programme,’’ I’anson said.
Manawatu¯ District councillor Hilary Humphrey has invited agency representatives to a council sub-committee meeting.
She hoped to discuss further improvements.
It would also provide an opportunity for the agency to explain its criteria when deciding whether a road required safety improvements. ‘‘It’s better than nothing,’’ Humphrey said of the newly installed signs. ‘‘There are mixed views among the community around what is needed for safety of pedestrians and vehicular traffic. [The meeting] is so we and the community are clear around what that process is and how the community can be involved in that decision-making process.’’
James has gathered support since starting a Facebook page 12 months ago and said the community wanted further progress on Kimbolton Rd, which was only getting more congested. ‘‘The intersections at peak hours are still very hazardous. ‘‘The Facebook contributors are posting daily about their near misses [and] the group continues to grow.’’
The agency will answer questions at the council chambers on August 27.