Stratford District councillors decide on SH3 pedestrian crossing locations

The pedestrian crossing in front of Stratford's glockenspiel will be removed, and a new crossing installed slightly further north, Stratford District councillors decided at an extraordinary meeting on Thursday. Photo / Ilona Hanne

Stratford’s pedestrian crossing in front of the town’s glockenspiel will be removed and replaced with two crossings in different locations along Broadway, councillors have decided at an extraordinary meeting.

Earlier this month, councillors had decided to utilise funding available from New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) Waka Kotahi to replace the single crossing with two new ones, both positioned between the two roundabouts on Broadway. With two potential locations for each crossing, plans were put out for community consultation.

Neither option received much support in the feedback, with the majority of responses opposed to both.

In response to the suggestions and feedback received during the process, council officers added further options for elected members to consider at the extraordinary meeting on Thursday along with the original two options.

More than 40 members of the public attended the meeting, as well as council staff and 10 of the district’s 12 elected members. Councillors Mathew Watt and Clive Tongaawhikau both put in apologies.

Two of the submitters, Arnold Cox who owns Stratford Knit and Sew, and Matthew Dymock, chair of the Stratford Business Association (SBA) spoke at the meeting.

Cox said he was concerned about the number of parking spaces that would be lost to a crossing near his shop, which is located near the northern roundabout on Broadway.

“Many of my customers are elderly and they travel from Hāwera or New Plymouth to shop here. They need car parks near the shop.”

The same was true for the TSB bank on the other side of the street, Cox said.

“They have the same type of customers.”

Cox was also concerned the crossing would mean larger trucks would potentially stop halfway across the roundabout, further slowing traffic flow.

“If you consider the lengths of some of the big trucks, they are longer than the space would allow.”

Cox said he believed people would still try to cross Broadway near the glockenspiel if the current crossing was removed.

“People do not obey rules. People will cross there when there are events at Prospero Place because the only toilets are across the road.”

Putting two crossings in between the roundabouts was not a good idea, he said, to applause from the public gallery.

“It will not do our town any good.”

Normally, said Dymock, the SBA didn’t put in a submission on council matters, but instead encouraged members to make their own personal submissions.

“Because it’s not very often members of the SBA all agree and have the same view. We are all very different people ... but in this case, we were all in agreement. All of us thought both options put out for consultation were very poor.”

They were opposed to the idea of two new crossings, he said.

“Instead the existing crossing should be raised and have controlled traffic lights.”

Members didn’t believe changing to two crossings would improve safety, he said, as events in Prospero Place meant there would always be people crossing the road near the glockenspiel.

Congestion was another issue.

“We’ve all seen Broadway at 3pm when school is out.”

Stratford people also wanted car parks close to where they shopped, he said.

“It’s how people shop. If they can’t park near a shop, they don’t stop. It’s just how people are. They drive from one shop on Broadway to the next one, not walk.”

While he understood the project had a tight time frame because the funding was only available until the end of June, he didn’t think that justified doing it.

“I don’t think rushing this to spend funding is the best idea. You need to take the time. It doesn’t work when you rush it,” he said, to applause from the gallery.

Councillor Steve Beck asked Dymock how many SBA members had been in support of controlled lights being installed.

“Our submission comes from our committee, not all the members, but I did also walk along the main street and ask businesses what they thought,” Dymock replied.

Roading asset manager Steve Bowden reminded councillors traffic lights were not an option as they did not meet NZTA requirements for the funding.

Before councillors made a decision, mayor Neil Volzke said there were a few other points to bear in mind.

“The funding of $460k is available to us from NZTA as long as we start the project before June 30. If we fail to do that, then that money won’t be available to us. We would be able to apply to a contestable pool of funding in the future, but that comes with no guarantee. It’s a now-or-never situation if we want to do something.”

“Never,” people from the gallery called in response.

In accordance with NZTA design rules, any crossing would not be a raised platform design, said Volzke, but would include a pedestrian refuge in the middle.

In previous consultations during the Transport Choices project, the idea of a crossing near the northern roundabout had been discussed, he said.

“It has been widely consulted on.”

Central Taranaki Safe Community Trust (CTSCT) had carried out some research into use of the crossing in town, which was included in the meeting agenda, he said.

“Which gives us an idea of the number of people who are crossing the road and where.”

He asked each councillor present to indicate which, if any, of the options they supported.

After some discussion, councillor Grant Boyde moved a motion for replacing the existing crossing with one new crossing to the north of the glockenspiel more in line with the green space on Prospero Place, and for a courtesy crossing, similar to the one near the town’s bike park, to be installed on northern Broadway near Seyton Street. Councillor Annette Dudley seconded the motion which was put to a vote. All councillors present, bar councillor Vaughan Jones, voted in favour, meaning it was carried.

A second courtesy crossing, similiar to this one near Stratford's bike park, will be installed north of the northern roundabout near Seyton St. Photo / Ilona Hanne

Speaking after the meeting, Cox said he was “generally happy” with the outcome.

“I think it’s good, but they do need to put lots of careful thought into the design. My concern is safety, and they need to consider that throughout.”

In a press release, Volzke said the decision was representative of the feedback received.

“It came through loud and clear that the options on the table weren’t satisfactory for a number of people, but it was also evident that people believed something needs to be done to improve pedestrian safety on State Highway 3.

“We think the combination of a new and improved pedestrian crossing in a fairly central location between the roundabouts and a courtesy crossing further north near Seyton St will help alleviate the concerns raised on both sides of the argument, while at the same time improving safety for pedestrians.

“Now we just have to get the work done, which you’ll see start as soon as Tuesday next week.”

Disclaimer: Editor Ilona Hanne is married to the chief executive of Stratford District Council.

Ilona Hanne is a Taranaki-based journalist and news director who covers breaking and community news from across the lower North Island. She has worked for NZME since 2011.