First traffic lights for Grey district

Traffic lights at Greymouth's busiest intersection are among the projects signalled in the Grey District Council draft annual plan for the next year.

It would be the first traffic lights in the entire Grey district.

The lights are proposed for the intersection of Mackay and Tainui streets.

Mayor Tony Kokshoorn said council staff had submitted the idea, backed by a consultant's report that found the intersection was "extremely unsafe" and needed addressing.

With a forecast boom in tourism, traffic volumes through the middle of town were expected to keep increasing, he said.

Staff had considered a roundabout, but that would not work when the annual motorcycle street races were on.

The lights are estimated to cost $350,000.

Transit New Zealand had proposed traffic lights in Greymouth some years ago, but instead settled for the roundabout outside McDonald's.

The idea was debated again two years ago when talk first began for the Greymouth central business district renewal.

Travel guides used to tout the West Coast as a region without traffic lights.

However, in 2009 solar-powered lights went in at both Fern Arch and Iron Bridge on State Highway 6, in the Buller Gorge.