Intersection to get red-light makeover

Riley, 8, Cody, 11, Grace, 7, and their mum Julie Thomas on their way home from Arthur Miller School. Mrs Thomas is concerned that the traffic lights only give them 6 seconds to cross the road. Photo / Duncan Brown

One of Napier's most notorious traffic light intersections is set to get a red-light makeover in the next couple of weeks to improve the safety of school children in the mornings and afternoons.

The site for the lights trial has long been a bone of contention and concern for parents like Julie Thomas of Jervoistown.

"Our children are required to run the gauntlet which is now the Meeanee and Guppy Roads intersection," the mother of four said.

Mrs Thomas said the problems in the area, at the busy time when children were trying to get to and from school, either on foot or by car, stretched back to when the overbridge of the expressway was constructed, but pushes by herself and other parents to get changes made had sparked some improvement.

"The free turn-off from Meeanee Rd heading north was changed because I lobbied the relevant people - we couldn't see coming traffic and the number of near misses for Jervoistown residents was staggering," she said.

The road layout was changed.

"Children safe, problem fixed - but do you think we could get a remedy for the Meeanee and Guppy Rds intersection ... no."

Until now - although she said it had taken years for something to finally happen.

About 14,000 vehicles use the intersection daily and it had in the past come to police's attention.

During a six-hour blitz back in 2011, a police camera stake-out at the intersection snapped 37 drivers defying red lights and speeding to beat late orange lights, angering police but not surprising many locals.

During the morning rush hour, the numbers of cars using the intersection increased greatly and, at the same time, children attending Arthur Miller School and Bledisloe School were crossing there.

There had been several near misses, Mrs Thomas said and she and other parents who spotted red light runners took numbers and reported them.

She said her son nearly got struck by a vehicle and he took note of the number plate - which was similar to plates used by Hawke's Bay Regional Council vehicles.

It transpired it had been a council vehicle and she complained.

The driver was spoken to.

"It comes down to driver patience - is it worth taking that risk just to get somewhere a few minutes earlier?"

The main issue was around cars turning left out of Guppy Rd into Meeanee Rd.

There were two lights involved but many drivers only took notice of one.

A red arrow light for when people were crossing, was often ignored as drivers simply took in the green light for straight ahead and turned anyway.

Locals have sought a longer full red alongside the red "no turn" signal while pedestrians were crossing.

After an extensive meeting with the council and traffic consultants the parents and school representatives were initially told little could be done as the system was based around a standard and accepted criteria.

"A criteria that wasn't working," was how Mrs Thomas put it.

Traffic consultants said the existing phasing was a standard arrangement used around the country, and said rather than an issue of poor phasing or timing it was all down to drivers breaking the law.

"However, we are prepared to trial the request and the consultants have been instructed to develop the necessary changes to the electronic control system to allow the alternative phase to be introduced," Napier City Council traffic engineer Henry Enslin said.

He said a proposal to install continuation lines through the intersection to "encourage" motorists to stay within the correct lanes when turning from Guppy Rd towards the expressway would also be implemented.

The changes will be announced in the media and on the council website to alert motorists, along with signage on the approaches to the intersection in the next few weeks.