Interestingly, Tranzit Coachlines used Gloucester Street as the site for a recent campaign aimed at reminding drivers that the speed limit while passing a stationary school bus - no matter which side of the road you’re on - is 20km/h and not 50.
Tranzit felt there was an issue on that stretch of road, which tallied with what Syed Khurram Iqbal had seen and heard.
A member of the Taradale Residents’ Association and spokesman for the Pakistan and Friends Hawke’s Bay Association, Iqbal said good fortune couldn’t be relied upon forever.
The EIT Te Pukenga bus stop, Atawhai Gloucester Street bus stop and the 453 Gloucester Street bus stop in his mind all present challenges to people trying to safely cross the road.
After initially trying Waka Kotahi, Iqbal’s enquiries led him to the NCC’s principal transportation engineer Tony Mills, who responded:
“I have looked at the speeds on Gloucester Street and found that the 85 percentile speed (the speed at which 85 per cent of all vehicles travel at or below) is 54km/h close to EIT and 53km/h close to the Taradale CBD. These are within the acceptable range and means that the road is a low priority for traffic calming at this time but we will continue to monitor the speeds as we do for all roads in the city.”
A project manager at Ravensdown, Iqbal can’t understand why the stretch is such a low priority. Essentially, he feels he is being fobbed off.
“The most frustrating part is we are skilled migrants. We have our family here, we are contributing, we know how to do analysis and gather information,” Iqbal said.
Hawke’s Bay Today’s queries about why Gloucester St remains a low priority for some sort of crossing were met with this:
“Crossing any road is a hazard and anyone that crosses any road needs to do so in a safe manner. Pedestrian crossings have risks associated with them mainly because people can just walk straight out without checking first,” an NCC spokeswoman said.
“Looking at crash history citywide, there have been a number of crashes involving pedestrians at pedestrian crossings.
“Most notably in recent years was a fatal crash on Maadi Road where a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle. Another crossing of note is the Faraday Street crossing which has had three crashes and there have been five pedestrians hit by vehicles on the Marine Parade pedestrian crossing outside the Sound Shell. On the other hand, there aren’t any reported crashes at the courtesy crossings.”
But Iqbal’s somewhat bemused by this response as well given he’s happy with a courtesy crossing or judder bars on Gloucester Street instead of a pedestrian crossing, and has requested the council look into it.
He believes it’s a reflection of a lack of understanding that institutions can have when engaging with migrant communities.
“There are so many people living in a silo that councillors don’t know how to engage with and I am offering to bridge this gap and connect the unconnected. But, if we are feeling ignored, what can we do?”
Checking twice before crossing the road sounds like a safe place to start, given Gloucester Street appears likely to remain as it is.
