Your view: Roundabouts 'waste money'

RESULT: Introducing roundabouts along Fenton St has been successful in bringing down average speed levels and reducing crashes along this stretch of road, according to the Rotorua District Council. PHOTO/FILE

Reader Rod Petterson questions whether ratepayer money was wasted on roundabouts along Fenton Street.

Have your say on the issue by posting in the comments below.
It's good to see the Rotorua District Council has agreed to look at reducing the speed limits on half a dozen local roads, one being Fenton St.

The chairwoman says "the proposals all related to areas where traffic speed has been identified as a concern in terms of community safety". Marvellous!

For the last three years Mr Dine, the RDC works manager, has been ducking the issue of speed being a problem in Fenton St.

In fact they (RDC) have wasted over a quarter of a million of our ratepayer dollars putting in roundabouts.

In fact they (RDC and NZTA) actually left the speed limit down Fenton St at 60km/h to just about Malfroy Rd.

Even after they built those silly single-lane roundabouts in a perfectly good double carriageway four-lane road, they didn't lower it.

They (RDC) claim there have been no serious accidents since these roundabouts were built but I did see some broken glass on one one day. Can't have been serious.

It sounds like they are admitting defeat here by now stating there is a speed problem in Fenton St.

This, to my way of thinking, negates the necessity of building those silly roundabouts after all.

I'm still in awe of Mr Dine and the RDC and possibly the NZTA seeing as their experts concurred with the RDC about the 60km/h limit remaining after wasting our money.

An old saying comes to mind: "Common sense is not that common especially in Government, both local and national."

ROD PETTERSON, Rotorua

Rotorua District Council responds:

Introducing roundabouts along Fenton St has been successful in both bringing down average speed levels and reducing crashes along this stretch of road.

Statistics show there have been no serious crashes over the length of the road influenced by roundabouts, and the crash rate has reduced from an average of 14.2 crashes per year to just 3.4 per year.

Current proposals to formally amend the speed limit to 50km/h along the entire length of Fenton St will bring the limit into line with the slower speed averages now being recorded, since the roundabouts were installed.

What do you think? Have your say in the comments section below or vote in our poll.