New routes ‘dangerous’
AFTER having three car wing mirrors smashed by passing vehicles this year, and a family car written off after being hit by a speeding vehicle, Dunedin resident Andrea Irvine is worried her Lynn St home is now on a busy bus route.
At the weekend, she also discovered a temporary bus stop had been placed outside her Wakari house.
‘‘It was Sunday morning. We woke up and it was there,’’ Mrs Irvine said.
Some car drivers were already ‘‘flying over the top of the hill’’, at a blind rise in Lynn St, near Wakari Kindergarten.
It was ‘‘just ridiculous’’ and ‘‘crazy’’ that many buses were now being injected into what was an already dangerous motoring mix for residents and youngsters attending the kindergarten, she said.
Several other Wakari residents yesterday voiced their concerns about steep, narrow Lynn St and Shetland St being transformed into busy bus routes for the first time yesterday.
Yesterday, narrow, winding Centennial Ave also joined Shetland St as part of route 33, Wakari to Corstorphine.
Bringing a regular bus service to these Wakari streets is part of the third and largest of a series of big bus route changes, which started with the Southern Routes changes on July 1, 2015.
Damon Thompson, whose son Will attends the kindergarten, near Mrs Irvine’s house, is worried about safety issues arising from buses using an already narrow street, and the presence of a temporary bus stop near the kindergarten.
Buses made it harder for children to see other traffic, which could also be approaching from unexpected angles as it sought to navigate around parked buses, and youngsters could occasionally rush into the street, Mr Thompson said.
He was also worried that Lynn and Shetland Sts were steep and became ‘‘a sheet of ice’’ in winter, further adding to concerns.
Wakari Kindergarten committee president Julie Olsen was worried about safety issues involving buses using the steep, narrow street near the kindergarten, and said there should have been consultation with the kindergarten over the changes.
Residents said they would like to see the bus stop opposite the kindergarten moved further away.
Otago Regional Council support services manager Gerard Collings said the council had earlier consulted extensively over the bus route changes proposed in the 2014 regional public transport plan.
Significant overall improve ments would result from the latest changes, including more direct routes, and increased frequency of service in many cases.
Mr Collings said the stops were temporary and there would be discussions with the closest property owners before they were finalised.