Crossing road ‘like playing dodgems’
Residents of Inglewood say crossing their main street remains an often dangerous mission and they fear someone is going to get seriously hurt.
‘‘I was watching them this morning and it was like playing dodgems,’’ Robyn Stafford-Bush said, standing outside the Rata St dairy in the township on a busy afternoon last week.
The traffic gets even worse at peak times and is really dangerous when the kids get off the bus, she said.
‘‘There’s no visibility, there’s no lights, when you’re trying to come out you’ve got cars parked so close that people can’t see. And people don’t like stopping.
‘‘The kids treat it like a freaking racetrack because it’s straight.’’
Most other townships crossings with lights, she said.
Stafford-Bush said she understood a portion of their rates went towards projects and infrastructure in New Plymouth, and while Inglewood residents did use those things, money should be spent on their township as well. ‘‘There’s two (crossings) and you’re taking your life into your own hands to try and cross those two.’’
In September 2017, seven-year-old Emma Warren was killed in a collision with a truck at the Miro St crossing, an intersection of the main road, while cycling home from school. The Serious Crash Unit found the truck driver was not at fault, but had Stafford-Bush said action was needed to prevent further tragedies. ‘‘Inglewood is only going to grow.’’ Fellow resident Nick Jones said the whole town talked about it.
‘‘The traffic movements on this road are getting worse, not better,’’ he said.
‘‘Even though the speed 50kmh they don’t slow down.’’
Complaints and concerns raised with the New Plymouth District Council limit’s Nick Jones and New Zealand Transport Agency had come to a halt, he said.
An update had been promised by last December.
The township was actually split in two and approximately 80 per cent, if not more, of the population live on the far side of State Highway 3.
‘‘There’s nothing that tells the traffic to slow down. It’s all just this big drag strip through town.’’
Jones said he enjoyed biking but didn’t feel safe cycling to work.
‘‘In a small town like Inglewood you should not have to get in a car.’’
Nicole Muir was going to pick up her son from school because she didn’t think it was safe for him to walk home alone. ‘‘It’s a joke.’’
Resident Melissa Young agreed. ‘‘You can’t allow a young child across this road by themselves.’’
NPDC infrastructure manager David Langford said they were continuing to work with NZTA.
‘‘The safety of people is our top priority,’’ he said.
He also recommended people take part in an ongoing road safety survey.
NZTA systems manager Ross I’Anson said in an emailed statement they were looking at safer places to cross as part of the New Plymouth to Ha¯ wera project.
‘‘We have already had some useful conversations with locals and schools last year, and we’ve taken the community’s concerns and suggestions into consideration.’’
An update is expected by March or April, he said.
‘‘There’s nothing that tells the traffic to slow down. It’s all just this big drag strip through town.’’