Railway crossing closure ‘absolutely nuts’
A decision to close off a railway crossing near a busy Hamilton intersection has been called ‘‘absolutely nuts’’ by one resident.
Hamilton City Council has decided to temporarily close the rail crossing at Onion and Ruffell Rd, citing safety issues.
In January, the council imposed new traffic rules at the intersection and the Waikato Times reported this led to a series of near-misses as drivers flouted rules, causing outrage and anxiety in the community.
But resident Kim Conchie told Stuff she was ‘‘astounded’’ by the council’s proposed solution to its own traffic management.
‘‘This is going to cause major, major traffic problems.
‘‘In my opinion they made a mistake and instead of putting their hand up, they have gone in the opposite direction and decided to close the crossing for everybody.’’
The council’s rules meant drivers heading to Te Rapa couldn’t turn left onto Ruffell Rd from Onion Rd, and others couldn’t turn right onto Onion Rd at the usual intersection.
At the time, the council said changes came about due to heavy left-turning trucks hitting and damaging the railway crossing’s barrier arm.
The crossing closure means traffic will be diverted to Arthur Porter Dr. The council has also decided to upgrade the intersection at Te Kowhai Rd and Arthur Porter Dr to a roundabout.
But Conchie believes closing the main access way to Te Rapa and Hamilton is ‘‘crazy’’.
‘‘You’ve got Te Kowhai, Whatawhata, Horotiu and State Highway One all coming down that road, that’s a huge volume of traffic.’’
Creating a roundabout was like ‘‘putting a sticking plaster on a big toe’’ and it won’t solve the congestion problems.
Ruffell Rd is a busy thoroughfare for trucks as it is the location for Main Freight and near Fonterra offices, she said.
She had heard two main solutions from the community: either banning left-turning trucks from Onion Rd over the railway line, or moving the barrier arm back on the crossing itself.
‘‘There’s a lot of anger in the community because there’s been no consultation on any of these changes. They’ve just railroaded them through. No one from KiwiRail, and no one from Hamilton City Council has bothered to sit down and hear our concerns.’’
In a statement, KiwiRail executive general manager of operations Siva Sivapakkiam said
KiwiRail had already moved the barrier arm at the Onion Road rail crossing back twice to provide more space for vehicles crossing the line, to reduce the number of incidents of vehicles damaging the barrier arm.
‘‘KiwiRail is working with Hamilton City Council to find a long term solution for the rail crossing that is safe for road users and our rail operations.’’
Hamilton City Council’s city transportation manager, Jason Harrison, was unable to comment to Stuff before the deadline.
But in a council statement, Harrison said safety issues at the intersection required ‘‘immediate action’’.
‘‘Our staff have monitored the intersection and noted a number of incidences of non-compliant driver behaviour and near misses occurring there’’.
A recent safety assessment of the Ruffell Rd railway crossing concluded it was dangerous – with a medium to high risk of death or serious injury.
‘‘The decision to close a section of our roading network is not one that is made lightly, and we have been working with KiwiRail to consider all options,’’ Harrison said.
The length of time the rail crossing will remain closed is dependent on a re-alignment of Onion Road, a project included in Council’s draft 2021-31 Long-Term Plan.