The Pik family - Rod, Leo, 7, and May - say Vogel St is dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists. Photo / Judith Lacy
The Pik family - Rod, Leo, 7, and May - say Vogel St is dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists. Photo / Judith Lacy
A petition to make Vogel St safer for everyone, including pedestrians and cyclists, has already gained nearly 500 signatures.
It will be submitted to Palmerston North City Council next Thursday, for consideration during annual budget deliberations.
The petition has been organised by Rod and May Pik.
They moved to HaydonSt a few months ago and are concerned about the difficulty crossing Vogel St and the Vogel/Haydon and Vogel/Featherston street intersections. The Piks would like traffic lights at the latter, and more pedestrian crossings along Vogel St.
Currently, there is just one outside the Roslyn shopping centre.
"It didn't take us very long to realise it wasn't going to be that simple," Rod says.
"It was really disappointing to discover how limiting this is for the way of life that we imagined for ourselves."
Rod says traffic often goes faster than 50km/h along Vogel St. It doesn't feel like a residential road and the lack of marked cycle lanes and car parking spaces encourages people to speed.
"Those busy streets make us feel isolated, we can't walk to the local park or the swimming pool without thinking about it twice."
Rod has been driving for 28 years, including in Tel Aviv, and finds the Vogel St intersections scary and difficult. He says drivers have to make risky decisions at them.
There are obvious, quite glaring safety and liveability issues with Vogel St and it makes no sense people can't walk around their own neighbourhood.
There are no righthand turning lanes from Vogel to Haydon and Vogel to Featherston, which can hold up traffic or cause traffic to suddenly swerve to the left.
Rod says it is almost like everyone who lives on the Kelvin Grove side of the Vogel St is isolated from the rest of the city.
Hadyon and Featherston streets in Roslyn do not line up, making them harder to navigate. There is no righthand turning lane for either street. Photo / Judith Lacy
Neighbours have told the Piks they take longer routes to get to their destination, avoiding Vogel St.
As the city grows traffic is only going to increase and the Piks thought community pressure might make a difference. They did a neighbourhood flyer drop and have only had agreement with their petition.
"People use words like disgrace because it's risky and it's poorly maintained," Rod says.
The Piks' petition is supported by GP Dr Vanja Pavarno, who lives in the area.
Rod says Palmerston North has a bad reputation nationally but when the family came to visit they were pleasantly surprised and keen on its liveable city claim.
Some of the petition signatories have commented on how many potholes there are in Vogel St. During his state of the city address in February, Mayor Grant Smith said the surface of the street was to be reconstructed.
The Piks are also concerned about the Upper Main St and Napier Rd intersection but that is the responsibility of Waka Kotahi.
The transport agency is planning to make safety improvements to infrastructure between Keith St and Stoney Creek Rd. It is consulting on proposed changes to the SH3 speed limit between Palmerston North and Ashhurst.
