Pupil struck by vehicle spurs school pedestrian safety upgrade

An east Auckland school is set to receive a much-needed pedestrian crossing to help keep its pupils safe after one of them was struck by a vehicle and injured.

Te Uho o te Nikau School principal Chris Herlihy wrote to Takanini MP Rima Nakhle, Auckland Transport (AT) and the police in August last year about his “major concerns” with the lack of footpaths and crossing opportunities for pupils at the school in Flat Bush School Road.

His correspondence was provided to the Howick Local Board for its final business meeting of 2024 before its members voted to allocate funds towards pedestrian safety improvements at the school.

“Currently for a lot of the walk there’s only access to a footpath on one side of the road,” Herlihy said.

“They must at some stage cross the road … to continue walking on the footpath.

“Unfortunately, there’s no way to safely cross the road as there are no crossing opportunities.

“There’s also a dip where visibility of kids is near impossible at some points.”

Herlihy described the situation as an “accident waiting to happen” and strongly suggested something be done immediately.

“My suggestion is to ensure the footpath stretches along both sides of the road and a set of traffic lights with pedestrian crossing are installed in an area that’s safe so kids and their whānau can walk safely to and from school.”

Three days later AT replied to Herlihy to say a member of its Travelwise team had visited the school to speak to a staff member and take photos, which were passed to AT’s road safety engineers to be reviewed.

Herlihy wrote to Nakhle, AT and the police again in September, this time to inform them one of his pupils had been struck by a vehicle while crossing the road.

“We knew this would happen eventually and surely now this must be escalated to an urgent upgrade on the roads,” he said.

Herlihy had also contacted Howick Local Board chairperson Damian Light about the issue.

At the board’s final business meeting in 2024, its members voted to allocate $375,000 toward pedestrian safety improvements at the school.

Herlihy told the Times that when he began in the role in mid-2024 it was apparent it was a challenge for some of his pupils to get to school safely.

That’s particularly the case for those who live on the other side of the bridge in Flat Bush School Road, which has a steep dip and therefore doesn’t give motorists much warning of nearby pedestrians, and vice-versa.

“For them to get to school they had to cross the road, where there are no crossings, then use the bridge, then come down to the school and cross over.

“When the school first opened there weren’t so many houses, so it wasn’t much of an issue, but housing has increased, and we’ve got trucks flying down the road and it’s a big problem with that dip.”

Light adds: “When the school was built, that area nearby was undeveloped, and now it’s massively developing, which is challenging for two reasons.

“It gets a lot of people, so the traffic has increased, but you also get lots of trucks, and we’re talking about primary schools and little children.

“That dip is really dangerous for anyone, but particularly people who are much smaller and shorter and are less likely to be seen. If they get hit the consequences are massive.”

Light says AT hopes to have consultation on the pedestrian safety improvements completed by July.