Jessica Maxwell: Concrete coffins a hazard to drivers

The new islands that have been put on Joll Rd as part of the council's safety improvements.

No sooner had Hastings District Council contractors finished constructing four ineffective and badly designed concrete traffic islands in Joll Rd, than I sent photos and a candid email to the full council expressing my exasperation and concern about the risk they posed for all categories of road users, but in particular unwary drivers.

Because of their shape, locals are referring to them as concrete coffins.

If the most dangerous one isn't removed with urgency, someone could well end up in a coffin, it's that hazardous.

The concrete obstacles have been installed in an attempt to slow traffic but have, in the view of many people, turned Joll Rd into possibly the most dangerous road in the village.

Of most concern is the third one heading towards Tanner St which has been constructed in the middle of the already narrow road on a blind corner.

Yes . . . drivers heading in that direction cannot see the large concrete obstacle confronting them until they are almost on it and the corner which was already unsafe is now, I told council, "plain bloody dangerous".

I know this because I drive along Joll Rd every day.

HDC's transportation safety engineer, Tony Mills, contacted me and we had an on-site meeting on Wednesday September 7.

I invited councillor Simon Nixon, councillor candidate David Mackintosh, his wife Kerry and two local residents.

We all told Mr Mills that, in our view, the concrete island sited on the corner was potentially lethal and that the others were ineffective in slowing the traffic.

He disagreed and was as immovable as the concrete monuments. He did say that when they were finished an independent audit would be undertaken and if changes needed to be made, they would be.

That is not good enough. I repeatedly urged him to remove the one on the corner before someone got hurt and when he refused, I told him that I would hold him personally responsible for any accident that happened.

The folly of designing, approving and installing a 5.5m x 60cm x 20cm concrete obstacle on a blind corner simply defies belief.

The high, straight-fronted edges are totally unforgiving and damage to any vehicle hitting them will be severe.

I pointed out the potential for a motorcyclist to be thrown over the handlebars, the danger to pedestrians and that damage to the cargo of large trucks trying, but failing, to negotiate the narrow gap is likely.

The answer is simple, council staff should admit the costly mistake, remove the incredibly dangerous concrete obstruction on the bend immediately and consider some other method to slow the traffic.

The hugely expensive "enhancement" of Joll Rd providing a wider footpath, now to be shared by cyclists because the narrower road is too dangerous to ride on is, in my view, just the latest example of council's wasteful use of ratepayers' money.

- Jessica Maxwell lives in Havelock North and is a concerned Hastings ratepayer.

- Views expressed here are the writer's opinion and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz