Highway plea heard
An assessment of the pedestrian refuges on a section of State Highway 6 through Wakefield has been promised after residents’ pleas for urgent improvements reached NZTA.
‘‘We have just been made aware of the community’s concern regarding State Highway 6 Whitby Rd and we plan to carry out a road safety assessment of the three existing pedestrian refuges in the coming weeks,’’ Waka Kotahi NZTA system manager Andrew James said yesterday.
‘‘Improving safety on our roads for all road users, pedestrians and nearby residents is a priority for Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency. We will work with council and community representatives as part of this review to better understand the issues and help determine what kind of improvements might need to be made.’’
Growing fears for the safety of pedestrians crossing the highway prompted the call for improvements, which was led by parents and the Wakefield School board of trustees, and supported by the Wakefield Community Council, other residents and the village police officer.
Parents on Wednesday sent a letter to Tasman District Council and Waka Kotahi NZTA saying they had been concerned for years about the ‘‘lack of safe crossing options’’ across Whitby Rd.
Included with the letter were 12 pages of signatures from residents who supported the concerns and improvements suggested by parents.
The Wakefield Community Council also wrote a letter of support. Chairman Julian Eggers said the community council shared the concerns of the parents and also worried about the older population.
‘‘We’ve got a lot of retired people on mobility scooters,’’ Eggers said.
Constable Jamie White, of Wakefield police, also wrote a letter.
‘‘I firmly believe that updating the current concrete pedestrian refuge will help save lives and give pedestrians the best opportunity to cross the road safely,’’ White said.
He recommended erecting ‘‘highly visible’’ signs to draw road users’ attention to the refuges.
‘‘It would be good to have the signs indicating that pedestrians, especially children, will be crossing there,’’ White said.
He also recommended the refuges be widened in the middle section of the road or more concrete barriers placed at the side of the road.
‘‘This will help further protect the pedestrians when standing on the roadside waiting to cross,’’ White said. ‘‘It will also help draw the attention of drivers to the crossing and potentially cause them to reduce speed.’’
James said the road safety assessment of the existing refuges would identify issues, help determine possible safety improvements and help form a case for funding any short or long-term safety improvements.
If larger improvements, such as refuge modification were needed, a funding application would be submitted, and the work would be prioritised in the Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP) for the next three-year period.
The agency’s low cost, low risk programme, for projects costing less than $1 million, could be the appropriate channel for funding improvements depending on the level of work required, he said.