Latest news with #MeganMay
RNZ News
6 hours ago
- RNZ News
Community removes third traffic chicane after uproar
A third lot of chicanes have been removed anonymously from a road in the sought-after suburb of Tamahere, near Hamilton. Photo: RNZ / Natalie Akoorie Another traffic calming chicane has been removed by vandals from a Tamahere road, near Hamilton, after residents complained it was an accident waiting to happen. Waikato District Council installed four chicanes to slow speed on Birchwood Lane, a once country road, but the backlash from residents was immediate and two were taken out anonymously just four days later. At a public meeting last week called by the council in response to the uproar, service delivery general manager Megan May admitted the reflector hipsticks that force traffic into one-way points along the road, were installed without community consultation based on six formal complaints and data of road speeds taken over one week three years ago. Many at the meeting called for the end of the four-month trial and asked the council to consider pedestrian crossings and increasing the road speed from 50 kilometres an hour to 60khm, as well as other measures. Birchwood Lane is home to 5000 square metre lifestyle blocks and bare paddocks with a cycle lane on one side, and connects Airport Rd to a Waikato Expressway exit into Hamilton, via Wiremu Tamihana and Alfred Main drives. The council data showed the average speed on the road was 60kmh and about 15 percent of drivers were speeding at more than 70kmh. Resident Lauren McLean previously told RNZ she could not let her children walk or bike to school unescorted because they had to cross Birchwood Lane to access the cycleway and there were too many drivers doing excessive speeds to do so safely. Two cars meet at the only remaining one-lane traffic calming measure on Birchwood Lane. Photo: RNZ / Natalie Akoorie On Friday a survey was posted to the Matangi/Tamahere Residents' page on Facebook asking people to give their thoughts on pedestrian crossings and other measures to make Birchwood Lane and surrounding roads safer, particularly for children. "Following a recent meeting with council regarding the installation of traffic calming measures on Birchwood Lane, it has become evident that a majority of residents are dissatisfied with both the process and the outcome," the survey said. "The measures were implemented without adequate consultation or transparent communication with the community. "The council has failed to provide sufficient justification for the measures beyond a general claim of reducing resident speeds." May said at the meeting Birchwood Lane had become an alternative route for rat-runners trying to get from Airport Rd - which links State Highway 3 with SH1 - into the city without using the Tamahere on-ramp to the expressway because of congestion at that roundabout. But Birchwood Lane resident Andrew Mowbray, who is one of four who set up the survey, pointed out the data from 2022 showed speeding on the road happened between 8am and 9am and 2pm and 3pm, during the times when Tamahere Model Country School began and ended, indicating residents were the culprits. The council's traffic calming device policy from June last year stated a road where the problem was caused by residents of the street might be considered less suitable for such a device. NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) policy stated such devices should not impair visibility. The survey said the location of the trial "does not align with the stated goal of improving safety and instead introduces new risks". "Council's actions have misaligned with both NZTA guidelines and it's own policy, and the needs of the community," Mowbray said. "The unilateral decision-making over a public asset, especially where no clear threat to vulnerable road users exists, sets a concerning precedent." Mowbray said there had been 170 responses to the survey so far, details of which would be released to the council first. The traffic calming device on the brow of a hill on Birchwood Lane has been removed anonymously after residents complained it was a dangerous traffic hazard. Photo: Supplied In a letter sent on Monday to those who attended the meeting May confirmed a third chicane, which residents said made it difficult to see oncoming traffic during times of sun strike and fog because it was installed on the brow of a hill, was gone. "This device was planned to be removed, but has since been done by members of the community." She said the two other chicanes removed earlier would not be reinstated and only the chicane closest to Devine Rd, near the Tamahere school and shops, would remain. May said most at the meeting were strongly opposed to the chicanes despite agreeing something needed to be done. She said the council had since received more feedback supporting the trial from people who felt uncomfortable speaking up at the meeting. Traffic counters that record speed were to be installed this week, the same week residents expected an increase in traffic due to Fieldays taking place at nearby Mystery Creek. "These will capture data to inform how effective the chicane and wide centreline installations have been," she said. "This data, along with feedback during the trial, will be summarised in August and reported in September." May said police confirmed 50km was "the safe and appropriate limit" so it would not increase. An aerial view of Birchwood Lane in Tamahere shows the road is a feeder for Newell Rd and also traffic from Airport Rd into the Hamilton suburb of Hillcrest via Alfred Main Dr. Traffic using Alfred Main Dr cannot access the Waikato Expressway. Photo: RNZ/Googlemaps She said the council would now add more speed limit signs and paint 50kmh markings on the road itself. It would also consider widening the centreline at the north end of Birchwood Lane and planting trees. Potholes would be fixed, and the council would investigate the best option for a safe pedestrian crossing. "A simple zebra crossing isn't suitable for this kind of road as it's been proven to create more risk to children when used alone on a road like this. "A raised platform crossing with lighting and signage may be possible and would need to be fully funded by WDC as there are currently no funding subsidies available." Reopening Newell Rd, which joined Birchwood Lane at one end and was once a thoroughfare to the old State Highway 1 into Hillcrest, would not be part of the council's project but she said it would support conversations with the NZTA if they decided to open it. May said in her letter the council would work with the residents running the survey but noted while any information collected would be considered, "official collection of data will be via our website".
RNZ News
6 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Waikato Council installed 'stupid' road layout on back of six complaints
The chicanes being used for the new road layour. Photo: RNZ / Natalie Akoorie A council that installed chicanes on a once quiet country lane-turned-rat-run to force drivers to reduce speed, did so after only six formal complaints and without consulting the community. The move infuriated Tamahere residents near Hamilton , who say the reflector hipsticks and one-lane chicanes are a major crash hazard during fog and at certain times of the day with sun strike. At an explosive public meeting in the sought-after Waikato country suburb on Tuesday night, the majority of about 70 residents who attended, demanded Waikato District Council end the trial now. "My suggestion is the trial is over," one man said to a round of applause. "I think the quicker they're removed the better and I think we're now sitting in a stupid, dangerous situation there." The four-month trial of four chicanes on a stretch of Birchwood Lane was introduced without notice in mid-May and was due to run until September after the council received six formal complaints and other emails about excessive speed on the road. The backlash was immediate, with residents bemoaning the new road layout on social media and rejoicing when vandals removed two of the chicanes just four days later. The new layout. Photo: RNZ / Natalie Akoorie Council general manager of service delivery Megan May apologised at the meeting for the lack of consultation and pointed to data taken from a week in 2022 which showed the average speed of drivers on the 50 kilometres an hour road was 61kmh. A small number were travelling faster than 70kmh. She said the speeding appeared to be from motorists passing through the area who were trying to avoid congestion at the Airport Rd roundabout and Tamahere on-ramp to the Waikato Expressway. "Rat-runners" were instead detouring through Tamahere back roads including Birchwood Lane, she said. The lane became a feeder route to the city and other parts of Tamahere that had their access to Hamilton closed with the opening of Alfred Main Drive, which only provides access to nearby Hamilton suburb Hillcrest. An aerial view of Birchwood Lane in Tamahere shows the road is a feeder for Newell Rd and also traffic from Airport Rd into the Hamilton suburb of Hillcrest via Alfred Main Dr. Traffic using Alfred Main Dr cannot access the Waikato Expressway. Photo: RNZ/Googlemaps But Birchwood Lane resident Andrew Mowbray pointed out the data showed the speeding was largely confined to between 8am to 9am and 2pm to 3pm, when the nearby Tamahere Model Country School started and ended each day, pointing to residents as the speedsters. Mowbray argued the road had the wrong speed limit and could cope with 60kmh which was why the average speed was 10kmh above the speed limit and pointed to surrounding roads which were 60kmh. Another resident queried how many crashes had occurred on the road during the three years since the data was collected; the answer was two. One of those was a drunk driver who was charged by police. A Waikato Hospital emergency department doctor and Tamahere resident queried how the chicanes protected children and pedestrians using the Birchwood Lane cycleway to get to and from school, the shops and the park, when none offered a way for pedestrians to cross the road. She asked why a speed camera and pedestrian crossings including on nearby Wiremu Tamihana Dr weren't considered instead. Waikato District road policing manager inspector Jeff Penno said to be eligible for a speed camera the road must have a documented crash risk. Birchwood Lane didn't. Penno told the meeting he was surprised at the new road layout because of the potential for head-on crashes. "The police have concerns about the conflict of vehicles. We've been there the last two weeks - we are seeing vehicles speed up to get through." Residents pointed out there was no indication of who was supposed to give way. Penno said police recently issued 129 speeding tickets. Residents felt the chicanes were pointless because they didn't effectively address the speeding concerns or make the road safer for pedestrians. Other traffic calming measures including a painted median-barrier strip pushed cars into potholes and loose gravel, which one man said was extremely dangerous. "S*** I hope the council's preparing themselves for a head-on accident. You guys are gonna be liable. You really will because you've had the feedback, you know it's dangerous and your proposal is you would like to carry on with the trial." When May asked if the council should wait until there was a death or a child hit on the road before the council did something a woman replied pointing out a lot of people believed the road was more dangerous now. "How would you feel if someone was killed because of what you've put in? That's what we're hearing tonight." Resident Lauren McLean said she supported the trial and asked what the community gained if the speed increased to 60khm. "Tell me what we lose. If we have trucks going down there at 60 or 70, we start degrading the road and trust me I live on Birchwood Lane, I see the trucks go past every day. "We make it less safe for our children to cross. We make it less safe for people using the cycle path. We make it less safe for horses. We make it noisy for residents." Tamahere Community Committee chairperson Charles Fletcher said Birchwood Lane, once a private right-of-way that was extended to become a through-road in 2018, was never designed to be the feeder road it was being used as. "We made submissions on that road when the council decided to open it up and turn it into a feeder road; we said that it had to be upgraded to the same standards as Newell Rd. "The council over-ruled us and said 'No it doesn't have to because it's not going to get that much traffic on it'." He said the trial should be aborted. "This trial's probably over and I think the council should take all that crap down and start again." Residents asked the council to remove the chicanes, consider the concerns about the danger and the typography of the road after one of the chicanes was installed at the top of a dip causing a number of near-misses, and come up with a better solution.
