Blocked off
A $600,000 safety solution for a busy New Plymouth intersection needs a safety solution of its own just months after it was completed.
Bright orange barriers block pedestrian access to a raised crossing on Huatoki St, while the New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) investigates how to make it safer.
The crossing replaced a pedestrian island and was installed last year in front of the Vogeltown shops, as part of a package of improvements following safety concerns from nearby Vogeltown School.
But Jai Huta and Amy Sao Tui-Huta, who own the Game Changer shop on the corner of the intersection with Carrington St, said the crossing never worked.
They said because it was never made clear whether it was a crossing or a speed hump, both pedestrians and motorists were confused and they had seen a number of near misses.
Huta said they complained several times to the council, but in January NPDC said it had no further plans for the crossing.
Nonetheless, last month it completely blocked off the crossing with temporary bright orange plastic barriers to stop pedestrians using it.
The council said this week the barriers would remain while it investigated a ‘‘safer option’’.
But even with the barriers up, Huta said pedestrians were skirting around them and crossing the road near the intersection, rather than use the pedestrian crossing down the street towards the school.
‘‘People will not walk down to the crossing, just because it’s too far,’’ he said. ‘‘We’re pretty much just waiting for an accident to happen.’’
Huta said the temporary barriers were only ‘‘a band-aid’’ and he believes the raised crossing needs to be removed and replaced with a zebra crossing closer to the shops.
‘‘If there was a crossing about 10 metres down, I’m confident people will use that crossing.’’
Huta said widening the road and putting speed bumps on either side of the intersection would also slow cars down and make the street safer.
‘‘Going slower would be key to safety,’’ Tui-Huta added.
On Wednesday, an NPDC spokesman said raised crossings had worked in other areas of the city, but the sheer volume of cars meant it had not worked on Huatoki St. ‘‘The issue is the volume of cars that use it,’’ he said.
However, yesterday, the council clarified the volume of cars was not the issue, and instead it was confusion over whether vehicles had to stop for pedestrians, which they do not.
There are similar traffic slowing humps on the main street of the New Plymouth CBD at which pedestrians are supposed to give way to vehicles.
In a statement, NPDC manager transportation Rui Leitao said the council was happy with the overall safety upgrade, but the raised crossing did not work as well as they had expected.
‘‘After monitoring the whole upgrade and receiving public feedback we are looking at ways to improve this and find a solution to keep everyone safe, which is our main priority. We will be working with people who use the area as part of this process.’’