New pedestrian crossing proposal
It used to be a joke among the townsfolk that there was no such thing as a traffic jam in Levin.
But it's now no laughing matter for resident John Wysochi, who is fed-up with rapidly increasing traffic volumes causing major delays to his routine trips about town.
Mr Wysochi was now suggesting wholesale changes to the way pedestrians cross the main street, as he believes it was the only way to relieve some of the pressure and cut down commuting time.
“It's not working properly. You can be waiting four of five [traffic light] cycles now,” he said.
“It's the only way to fix it.” Mr Wysochi proposed a “barnes dance”, where lights in all directions turned red, and pedestrians could cross the street at any angle during that time.
“In Lower Hutt now there is a barnes dance and that works really well,” he said.
It would be better for pedestrians too.
Instead of waiting for two cycles to cross diagonally, they could do it in one swoop, he said.
“That is the only problem. The traffic cannot go until the pedestrians are finished. I waited four cycles to get through and traffic was backed up the roundabout.”
“The traffic turning left can't go until pedestrians have finished crossing.”
Mr Wysochi had rung NZTA authorities with his proposal and was optimistic they would take it on board.
“When I rang initially the girl I was talking to on the phone was from Levin and said she knew what I was talking about,” he said.
“There's just so many more cars and heavy traffic going through the middle of Levin now.”
I would just like to see something. I thought about getting a petition started too, to sow the seed.”
Mr Wysochi planned to pay local MP Nathan Guy a visit to talk of his proposal.
He said he was aware that the new proposed State Highway bypass would re-route much of the traffic away from Oxford Street, but was concerned that the road make take the best part of a decade or more to arrive.
“Something needs to happen now,” he said.
The Barnes Dance or "Barnes Shuffle" was named after a US traffic engineer, Henry A Barnes.
It is a street-crossing system that stops all traffic and allows pedestrians to cross intersections in every direction at the same time. This system was first used in Kansas City and Vancouver in the late 1940s.
Subsequently it was adopted in other cities such as Denver, Colorado, New York, San Diego, Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, DC. Barnes, who had been traffic commissioner in Denver, Baltimore, and New York City, stated that he did not invent the concept but promoted its widespread use.
The phrase originated from City Hall reporter, John Buchanan, who wrote, "Barnes has made people so happy, they're dancing in the street," according to the US Department of Transportation.