Hamilton residents can expect many more new roading projects aimed at making the city's roads safer and easier for everyone. Photo / Hamilton City Council
Hamilton residents can expect many more new roading projects aimed at making the city's roads safer and easier for everyone. Photo / Hamilton City Council
Hamilton City Council has approved 75 new roading projects ranging from major intersection upgrades (including raised safety platforms) and making roads safer outside of schools, to making biking and walking improvements, and public transport infrastructure upgrades.
The council says the projects will make the city’s roads safer and easier for anyone and everyone getting from A to B.
“It’s a massive undertaking that will require meticulous planning from several council teams and contractors and some patience and understanding from our community,” said deputy mayor and chairwoman of the Infrastructure and Transport Committee, councillor Angela O’Leary.
The projects fall under the council’s low-cost, low-risk programme which is 49 per cent funded through the council’s Long-Term Plan and 51 per cent by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s National Land Transport Plan.
“Paired with our commitment to road safety and reducing harm on our roads, each of these projects supports the council’s Access Hamilton vision, by providing genuine travel choices connecting people and places in safe, accessible and smart ways,” O’Leary said.
Raised safety platforms are part of most of the new Hamilton projects, like this one at the junction of Church St and Te Rapa Rd. Image / Hamilton City Council
Raised safety platforms will play a part in most of these projects, especially when it comes to slowing down vehicles and creating safer places for people to cross the road at busy intersections.
City Transport Unit director Gordon Naidoo said the council has started using raised safety platforms in areas with lots of people walking and biking, particularly near schools and key destinations.
“What the data tells us is a person hit by a car at 50km/h has an 80 per cent chance of being killed. If that car is going 30km/h, their chance of death drops to 10 per cent,” he said.
At the Infrastructure and Transport Committee meeting, councillors also discussed the timeframes for proposed raised safety platforms at the Wairere Dr and Gordonton Rd roundabout in response to traffic impacts caused by the Waikato Expressway Hamilton section.
The intersection has seen a 6 per cent increase in traffic volumes, from almost 32,000 to 34,000 vehicles each day since the Hamilton section opened in 2022, providing a new connection into Hamilton from the expressway.
“In the past five years, there have been 71 reported crashes, 25 of these have resulted in cars losing control and hitting the guardrail,” said Naidoo.
This type of crash is typically caused by people driving too fast, incorrect lane use or not giving way.
Councillors will consider the proposed improvements for this site at the next committee meeting to decide on the timeframes for these proposed works.
Separate works to upgrade the guardrail are underway, with the roundabout reduced to one lane for about five weeks.
Small roadside gardens
The committee meeting also addressed the increasing issue of roadside weeds sprouting throughout Hamilton, and the dangers they create for staff on the streets maintaining them. A string of unprecedented bad weather mixed with warm days, staffing challenges due to Covid-19, traffic management restrictions and moratoriums (time blocks where staff can’t do this work in specific areas) have made it hard for the council to keep up with the rapid weed growth. Extra resource has been brought in to help the maintenance team catch up.
The current schedule is to mow lawns at parks and reserves once every two weeks, mow roadside grass once every three weeks and maintain the road corridor gardens once every eight weeks, weather-dependent.
