Report confirms locals concerns about safety of Poplar Ave crossing

Flags and hit sticks installed by locals at a troublesome crossing on Poplar Ave.

Residents and road users of Poplar Ave are still not happy with the action — or lack of action — being taken on it.

After presenting a petition to the Kāpiti Coast District Council at the end of last year with over 700 signatures, the council responded by requesting Tonkin and Taylor to carry out a Safe System Assessment of the crossing point where the Te Ara o Whareroa shared pathway meets Poplar Ave.

Other than a pram crossing, no other facilities are provided for pedestrians and cyclists to cross at the location, with residents asking for a formal crossing and speed management to reduce the risks to vulnerable road users, especially children.

Locals standing where the Te Ara o Whareroa track comes out on Poplar Ave, petitioning for a safe crossing for cyclists and walkers. Photo / Rosalie Willis

Although there are no reported crashes at or near the crossing point involving pedestrians or cyclists, the report says the key issues on both approaches to the crossing point are high vehicle approach speeds, and that the crossing point isn't that visible/obvious and drivers could be distracted by other features on the road.

There had been only one recorded crash within 50m of the crossing area over the past five years, however, the petition indicates there have been a number of near misses observed by the local community.

Paul Callister, who created the petition, said, "The report released confirms our concerns about the safety of the crossing."

However, he said while the consultants do provide some options for consideration, the report does not provide any definite recommendations for safety improvements.

Flags at the crossing in Poplar Ave that have now been taken down.

The short-term improvement options include installing additional or improved static warning signs and/or electronic signs, increasing the conspicuity of the crossing, reinforcing the 40km/h speed limit — use of red markings, use of dragons' teeth markings, painted rumble strips and a gateway treatment and visual narrowing to create the perception of a narrow carriageway without physically narrowing the road — additional street trees, lamp columns, street furniture, paving treatment and roadway markings.

Longer-term options include addressing the crossing point issues with a raised zebra crossing, simplifying the arrangement with the adjacent Matai Rd intersection and reducing vehicle speeds — taking the form of a raised give way or roundabout intersection.

It is Paul's concern that while undertaking the report the consultants did not talk to any of those involved with the petition or who use the crossing, yet they have made estimates of the number of crossing users and have recommended that a detailed survey of pedestrians and cyclists using the crossing is carried out.

"We are also concerned that they made no use of our own data, despite our group making it available to the council when they were considering the draft report.

"Our data, collected by a traffic engineer, also showed a significant speeding problem in the area.

"Shared track use data collected by Greater Wellington Regional Council also indicates a higher use of the crossing than they estimate, up to 500 movements on peak weekends."
Council access and transport manager Glen O'Connor said getting a better estimate of road user numbers is important and this is the next step.

"The undertaking of this initial road safety assessment is the first part of planning for any future improvements.

"If you want to make significant road safety improvements you need to be certain you are dealing with accurate information and gathering this, including user feedback, will be part of any next steps."

While waiting for the report, the petition group also consulted traffic experts who recommended installing safety measures that created "visual narrowing to create the perception of a narrow carriageway without physically narrowing the road".

"We did this by placing colourful flags, cones near the crossing and installing plastic hit sticks, a common way of making drivers more aware of crossings."

Paul said that while the council has been slow to make any improvements, it was very quick to remove these community-installed safety features.

The first set of flags was put up on March 14 before the public release of the Tonkin and Taylor report, with Paul noticing they were gone by March 16.

"With both safety concerns and climate change requiring us to quickly make changes to our roads, in line with the Tonkin and Taylor report, we again reinstalled the safety hit sticks."

The next set of flags and safety hit sticks were installed on March 28, gone by the next day.

Glen said, "We appreciate that some parts of the community would like something done at this site immediately.

"The risk is that doing something without any consideration for wider road safety issues can often make the situation worse.

"Council has previously carried out improvements at this site and it is making sure that what we do next is the most appropriate and safe option for all users."

Another reason the group is petitioning for a safer crossing is to encourage more people to use cycling as a form of transport.

"With council declaring a climate emergency in 2019, the council should now recognise how supporting safe cycling is a key way of reducing emissions," Paul said.

He said they would like the council to immediately improve the safety of the crossing by drawing on the short-term safety improvement options, while also beginning the planning for installing a raised zebra crossing with other associated safety work.