The city council in their wisdom have just completed building a very substantial footpath outside 314 Redoubt Rd which is about 20m long and goes nowhere. There is no path at either end or anywhere near it. It couldn't be a bus stop as it is right on a very nasty bend going from Redoubt Rd into Mill Rd at the top of the hill.
Further to that, a long time ago I asked the then Manukau Council on more than one occasion, without any acknowledgment, why they did not complete the footpath in Te Irirangi Drive from Bishop Dunn Place to Accent Drive and a little way further up. If someone walks from Bishop Dunn Place, at the end of Mitre 10 Mega the footpath runs out and the alternative is to climb over a road barrier, cross a very busy four-lane 80km/h highway or proceed over rough ground to Accent Drive. In winter this gets worse as not only is straight ahead likely to be wet but to negotiate the four lanes of traffic also means crossing two wet berms and a wide wet grassy median strip. When one does get to Accent Drive the footpath is broken and uneven at the traffic lights. I have written more than once to the council but have been ignored. And yet they can install an expensive footpath in Redoubt Rd which goes nowhere.
I have watched the council over the past 10 years spend millions on huge parks in the area including roads, paths, plantings and buildings but they won't fix the footpath to Accent Drive. Can you please ask the council if they have any plans to rectify this shortcoming?
Doug Montgomery, Manukau.
Work undertaken outside number 314 Redoubt Rd was a safety project to address a pattern of loss-of-control crashes. Before the works the edge of the seal on the northern kerb adjacent to 314 fell away into a section of open drain. Vehicles misjudging the bend would track into this area and would not be able to recover, resulting in said vehicles losing control and crashing. The recent works involved shoulder-widening to provide a wider recovery area, filling the open drain and installing a kerb and channel to improve delineation of the curve and to provide drainage. The concrete section adjacent to the kerb and channel is capping above the shallow storm water drain and was not intended as a footpath.
The section of Te Irirangi Drive from Bishop Dunn Place to Accent Drive is on the new footpath programme. This is prioritised on an annual basis because of the significant number of requests and limited funding. The council hopes to extend this section of footpath in the 2013/14 financial year.
