Residents fear for safety on ‘bypass’ with 80kmh zones

Police highway patrol sergeant Barrie Greenall said the road was used by a lot of drivers as an unofficial bypass of the Blenheim town centre.

Greenall said he had seen motorists doing 100kmh on the road.

Another problem was drivers not slowing down enough as they entered the 50kmh zone, he said.

Clode’s father Brian Clode said his granddaughter, who lived with them, had stopped cycling to school because of fears for her safety on the road.

Across the road, resident Andrew Scott said it was only a matter of time before something happened.

‘‘Do we have to go to that degree? Does some child have to be killed to get something done?’’

His neighbour Angela Johnston said she often saw young children walking along the road after school, and some of them were ‘‘little’’, from nearby Springlands School.

In 2017, Philippa Hyndman was involved in a hit-and-run incident while she was driving her scooter along Battys Rd.

Hyndman said she thought changing the position of the speed signs was a good idea, but more was needed. The road needed a footpath, she said.

Battys Rd residents at the northern end of the road asked the council to consider moving the 80kmh speed limit about 400m down the road during last week’s long-term plan submissions.

The residents said in their submission they had noticed an increase in the amount of traffic along the road, and a lot of drivers weren’t sticking to the speed limit.

New housing developments around the southern end of Battys Rd were behind some of the increase in traffic, they said.

Scott said he believed that if another subdivision went in, changes would definitely need to come – but there was ‘‘no rhyme or reason’’ to the council’s decisions on setting speed limits.

The council will consider all long-term plan submissions today, with the plan to be adopted on June 28.