Safer crossing on Gover St
There’s now a safe way for Central School pupils to get across Gover St. For years families have struggled to get across the busy street, particularly before and after school.
Now a kea crossing, which is unmarked but becomes a formal crossing when the school patrol is out, has been installed.
‘‘It’s made such a difference. All the people who had started to cross in different places have come back to using the safe crossing,’’ principal Juliet Ormrod said.
‘‘We’re getting families away from the school efficiently and safely.’’
It’s bedlam outside the busy school gate so a crossing point, where pedestrians had to wait for a gap in traffic, was put in on the street in early 2015.
‘‘The crossing point still wasn’t safe.
‘‘We had a number of near misses with families crossing on that road.’’
Ormrod said drivers would stop when they weren’t supposed to causing nail-biting situations for pedestrians and traffic snarls.
On one occasion she witnessed a ute pull out to pass a stopped car and just about bowl a cluster of pedestrians over.
‘‘It was absolutely terrifying. I’ve never had my heart in my mouth like it,’’ she said.
‘‘We were getting to the stage where people weren’t using the crossing because they didn’t feel safe, which defeats the purpose of putting it in in the first place.’’
Ormrod said the kea crossing meant families could park further away from the school and know their child will get there and back safely.
‘‘I could completely understand why a parent would have been concerned beforehand if their child had to cross Gover St.’’
Sarah Wilson from the Let’s Go programme and New Plymouth District Council said they are happy to work with in partnership with schools to address the barriers to walking, biking and using the bus.
‘‘The Central School kea crossing enables family to know their children have safe passage across a very busy urban city street, so can be confident their children can get to and from school.
‘‘We encourage cars away from school entrances, so thanks very much to Central School and the wider school community for supporting this initiative,’’ she said.