Town’s intersection redevelopments get green light
Traffic flow into Tokoroa’s central business district is in for a big shakeup as the reconstruction of two prominent intersections get the go-ahead.
The South Waikato District Council is set to move forward with the construction of two new roundabouts connecting Bridge St and Swanston St with Leith Place at a cost of more than $200,000 each.
The work will be partly Government-funded and follows the council’s recent multimilliondollar redevelopment of Leith Place.
The aim is to address traffic flow, pavement conditions, lighting, drainage and safety. During the past five years there have been 12 crashes at the intersections. Both roundabouts will be removed and replaced with much larger ones, complete with skirts to help large vehicles manoeuvre around them, kerbing will be extended and reconfigured to improve pedestrian and parking safety and new centre islands will replace existing ones. To improve congestion and safety issues around State Highway 1, the council has also approached Gull to turn its Bridge St exit and entry into an entry only.
McDonald’s in Swanston St has also been asked about turning its drive-through exit into a leftturn exit only.
During the council’s May meeting, consulting engineer Barry Knight, whose Hamilton based company CKL has come up with the project’s designs, said leaving the areas as is would be problematic.
‘‘Our view is that if [Gull] remains two-way you would have to look at controlled measures like compulsory stops and physical barriers to actually manage the traffic,’’ he said. ‘‘The main constraint in Swanston St, which is a very busy place, is the exit from McDonald’s and a stacking bay in the middle of the road which dominates how the site works.
‘‘It creates so many conflicts when you have vehicles sitting out in the middle of nowhere, and really it is something you just wouldn’t consider allowing in a new intersection design.’’
Assets group manager Ted Anderson said discussions were taking place.
‘‘The owners of the [Gull site] were supportive but said they would reserve their final decision [which will be] based on discussion with their tenant,’’ he said.
Knight said the local McDonald’s operator was not opposed to the change.
‘‘He is quite comfortable with that. His only concern is that the council will need to have enough directional signage to allow visitors to find their way back to State Highway 1,’’ he said.
The council voted unanimously in support of the designs.