Cheaper raised crossings being rolled out

Auckland Transport is rolling out a new, cheaper approach to raised pedestrian crossings after heavy criticism over costly installations.

The AT board, at its first meeting last month, heard that a recent review of pedestrian safety found a previous one-size-fits-all approach had dominated and was costing Super City ratepayers too much.

This was despite having a range of other affordable solutions available.

AT had come under fire for spending too much on raised pedestrian crossings, including from Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown.

AT infrastructure and place director Murray Burt said that at the end of January it started investigating a new approach and undertook a review into raised crossings.

AT was now adopting new practices to deliver raised crossings at a lower cost, Burt said.

A recent project at Kumeu¯ using pre-cast units cost ratepayers $35,000 — about 10 per cent cheaper than the criticised former method.

The crossing was part of the State Highway 16 access road upgrade project, at the car park of the Main Rd shops. The pre-cast unit was installed in one night, rather than over several days.

“We saved money due to the speed at which it was installed,” Burt said.

“The installation was just one night, versus the usual raised crossing, which would take a week or two to install.”

Burt said the pre-casts were laid out from 9pm and work was completed by 5am. It opened to traffic that morning.

“AT is now investigating opportunities to roll out this approach more broadly wherever possible.”

He said 22 other crossings have been identified as suitable for the same approach.

In a social media post about the Kumeu¯ project, Fulton Hogan national innovation lead Beaudene Pumipi said pre-casting had health and safety benefits in construction.

It had lower carbon emissions and largely negated the vagaries of the weather, being manufactured in a controlled environment, he said.

“There’s growing interest in how New Zealand can produce speed tables and other concrete road structures more efficiently and effectively,” Pumipi said.

Burt said AT’s review of raised crossings estimated a reduction of around 30 per cent of these were required, compared with the current pipeline of projects.

“In all cases, alternative safety measures will be considered to achieve the same outcomes and be monitored closely.

“Examples of this may include signalised crossings and other speed calming measures,” he said.

AT’s priority was to keep people safe as they move about, balanced against the cost of work to do so.

“Over the past five years, 2035 pedestrians have been killed or seriously injured trying to cross the road or walking on footpaths.

“We know that raised crossing facilities reduce the likelihood of a death or serious injury.”