By JASON COLLIE
Auckland's mean city streets are set to become more pedestrian-friendly.
Pedestrian Power - a joint Auckland City Council, Auckland Regional Council and Land Transport Safety Authority think tank - has come up with a string of traffic changes to make the central business district safer.
At present, one in five people killed on the roads in the Auckland region is a pedestrian but the group hopes the changes - mostly traffic light adjustments - will cut that rate in the city.
By the end of June the group wants:
* The traffic lights at the intersection of Customs St West and Albert St - Auckland's number one pedestrian blackspot - set to the crossing phase late at night and triggered only when a vehicle approaches.
* Improved visibility of the pedestrian crossing at the brow of the hill where motorists turn left out of Queen St into Karangahape Rd.
* Traffic lights at the crossing outside the Centra Hotel in Albert St to be synchronised with those at the adjacent intersections. Drivers often do not notice when the lights are red to allow pedestrians to cross.
* Either a pedestrian crossing or pedestrian refuge in the centre of K Rd, opposite St Kevins Arcade.
* Waiting times cut at the signal-controlled pedestrian crossing in Wellesley St near the Civic.
And by 2002 it wants:
* A crossing over the motorway on-ramp at the Karangahape Rd and Symonds St intersection for people going to the adjacent bus stop.
* Better solutions to crossing Symonds St around the university.
* Wider crossing area and other improvements outside the Ferry Building in Quay St because of the number of people crossing there.
The Auckland City traffic safety manager, Kevin Bell, said Auckland was a much more dangerous city for pedestrians than many others because the car was so dominant.
"We are looking to promote pedestrians as a road user of equal standing."
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