On August 29, Simeon Brown, the MP for Pakuranga, organised a public meeting at Farm Cove Intermediate to discuss the proposed raised crossing on Pakuranga Road.
The meeting was attended by Auckland Transport (AT) officials, Howick ward councillors and about 150 enthusiastic people affected by the proposal. AT officials said to the gathering that 90 per cent of the 1200 respondents consulted earlier opposed the raised crossing design.
In the meeting, participants raised questions from various perspectives. AT appeared to be unable to provide satisfactory answers. As an affected Pakuranga Road user, I am opposed to the raised crossing design because of the following reasons:
While pedestrian safety should be given a high priority, the existing road environment and social context should be considered for this crossing. A raised crossing will over-protect a limited number of pedestrians. It ignores the adverse effects it will have on wider road users such as traffic delays. There are 21,000 vehicles per day at that crossing.
Due to the raised design, vehicles are required to apply brakes even during green traffic lights. There are several other crossings on Pakuranga Road and across the city that are without the humps and seem to be working okay. What is special about this crossing that it has to be raised?
Why would AT designers produce something not acceptable to so many people?
AT said they are working on the Vision Zero campaign. If Vision Zero is the basis for a raised design, AT should be able to demonstrate this vision across the city.
The final outcome may be that a crossing may not be required at this place as there are crossings on each side of Pakuranga Road 300m from this point.
If AT’s norm is Vision Zero, nobody on our roads across the city should be injured or killed. If so, how about several sections of the main roads in Flat Bush which do not have footpaths? School children and people walking to work are forced to walk in the traffic lanes risking their lives.
If completing these footpaths are developer’s responsibilities, how long will people have to wait? We need another public meeting to deal with these life-threatening issues. If a crossing is not required on Pakuranga Road as proposed, I suggest transfer that budget and build footpaths in Flat Bush and other such places across the city where there are road safety issues including potholes.
Yuva Adhikary
Vice President, Flat Bush Ratepayers and Residents Association Inc
