Having attended the public meeting on the proposed raised crossing on Pakuranga Road, a number of things stood out for me.
Firstly, the school hall was filled which obviously indicated that the issue was indeed a topic that very many people were passionate about.
Secondly, and to their credit, the members of Auckland Transport (AT) who fronted seemed genuinely interested to hear the many and varied reasons why virtually the whole audience were against the proposal and some interesting points were raised that both they and many in the audience had not even considered. It remains to be seen whether the valid arguments put forward are actually taken into account or whether their stock answers, at times, hid the fact that they intend to go ahead anyway.
What was evident was that AT, in their planning, despite having already employed consultants and the like, seem not to have factored in such things as the Reeves Road flyover and the enormous housing intensification that will only put further pressure on a road that is already in gridlock many times of the day. In many ways, AT should be trying to hasten and smooth the flow of traffic, rather than hinder travel and slow everything down.
Ideas such as a walking overbridge – if another crossing is a necessity – were somehow brushed over as were the crash figures that, before this proposal broke, showed an entirely different picture than the figures being presented to us today.
All in all, thanks to the tight control on the meeting by (Pakuranga MP) Simeon Brown, I felt the meeting was quite informative and we can only hope that the members of AT who were present now have a better understanding of how ridiculous, impractical and disruptive this proposal would be.
It once again shows that, often, a university education and fancy title is no match for boots on the ground and local knowledge but we hold our breath and wait!
Marty Kebble,
Pakuranga Heights
