The lack of pedestrian crossings and connections to the waterfront has the Whangārei community cross, with many calling the current road plans dangerous.
South of the Walton and Dent Sts intersection, there is virtually no pedestrian access to or from the Town Basin area from central Whangārei.
A person who works in the area said the issues for pedestrians trying to cross the busy street were obvious.
“There are no traffic lights down here at this end near the roundabout; there’s no zebra crossing.”
They said the road was particularly unsafe for more vulnerable members of the community.
“A lot of elderly people cross here, a lot of people with mobility scooters, I’ve even seen a blind person try to cross here so I went to them to tell them when to cross.”
The four-lane Dent St ends with a four-fingered roundabout, leaving pedestrians having to monitor traffic at up to 50km/h when crossing the road to the small dipped island in the middle.
The risk of a pedestrian or cyclist being killed or seriously injured by a car increases significantly when travelling at more than 30km/h, according to Whangārei District Council (WDC).
Pedestrians Steph Mitchell and Annette Fowler described Dent St as “ridiculous” and “dangerous” to cross as they carried groceries to their car.
“Often we stop to go shopping and we would like to have a coffee [across the road] but it’s just so difficult to get over,” Fowler said.
Pedestrians Cathy Ward and Richard Kiernan said crossing the road back and forth if you’ve parked across the street is frustrating, especially with young children.
“It’s a death trap,” Kiernan said.
Lesley Burke and Wayne Burke also raised the difficulty of crossing because of the speed of cars entering and exiting the nearby roundabout.
“I’m from Australia and we’re finding it really hard to cross roads here,” Lesley said.
Wayne grew up in Northland and said he found walking much more dangerous now compared to when he was younger because of the large number of cars on the road.
“What you really need is those flashing lights. I know traffic lights cost a lot of money but you need a good light system that maybe stops the traffic,
“Or even speed humps,” Wayne said.
The WDC Whangārei Complete Streets Masterplan identified “prioritising pedestrian connection to and from the waterfront” in 2020.
WDC infrastructure programmes manager Shelley Wharton said plans are in place for the Dent St roundabout to be turned into an intersection with traffic lights, but probably not in the near future.
“As of yet we don’t have a timeframe or the funding for it,” Wharton said.
Removing the roundabout will improve pedestrian accessibility and shelter according to the plans.
“The intersection of Dent/Reyburn/Lower Dent Sts is planned to be signalised ,which would include signalised pedestrian crossings in all directions to connect the Town Basin to the Pak’n’Save site as well as the public car park behind Frings [Bar] and White Cross.”
Wharton said in the short term the council is creating alternatives from the Lower Dent St corner, which will alter where people cross the road.
“We definitely know that it’s an important issue at that particular end of the Town Basin.”
The plans also specify a “generous crossing” at John St supported by crossings at other streets, rated as a high-priority, long-term project (5-10 years).
A new pedestrian crossing at Carruth St is also listed in the plans, rated high priority, with a mid-term time frame (3-5 years).
“We have made a lot of improvements to the other three crossings though.
‘‘Three intersections we upgraded at the same time so the lights work together including Hatea/Riverside, John St and Walton St. If people think that that’s a priority to have the [Lower Dent St] intersection signalised then it would be a good idea to talk to elected members about it and to make submissions through our long-term planning process, to make sure that it gets prioritised in the funding discussions.”
The WDC 2023/24 Annual Plan process is yet to start, but you can find and contact your elected council members here.