Greg Mawson says at both ends of the intersection, the right turn stop arrows turns on too quickly and stay on for at least 30 seconds. Photo / Google Maps
Greg Mawson says at both ends of the intersection, the right turn stop arrows turns on too quickly and stay on for at least 30 seconds. Photo / Google Maps
The Napier City Council is refusing to make changes to an intersection that locals say is causing havoc for motorists, despite a petition receiving almost 500 signatures.
Greg Mawson started the petition after almost a year of what he says is inaction from the council after an upgrade of theKennedy, Wycliffe and Maadi Rd traffic lights.
He said it was now common for cars to be waiting across both lanes of Kennedy Rd and both Wycliffe and Maadi roads as well.
Mawson says this could be fixed if the turning arrows on Kennedy Rd were switched off after a few seconds of being red, a practice known as "right-turning filtering".
However, the council has reviewed the intersection and says the current layout and operation is the safest way to operate.
Napier City Council senior roading engineer Tony Mills said the signals were designed independently, and the design was verified by a second consultant who endorsed the approach.
Greg Mawson has created a petition to get a rectify a right turn stop arrow at a Napier intersection. Photo / Warren Buckland
"If the red arrow was switched off, any motorist wanting to turn right would have to navigate three lanes of oncoming traffic, which is not safe," Mills said.
"It is best practice to not allow right turning filtering on safety grounds."
Mawson says at both ends of the intersection, the right turn stop arrows turn on too quickly and stay on for at least 30 seconds.
He says that creates a lack of time to get around the corner before the red right turn arrow is on again, which creates traffic backlogs.
Mawson suggested it should instead turn off after a short delay - about five seconds like it does at Taradale Rd into Maadi Rd traffic lights.
Since his petition went live on July 10, it has received almost 433 signatures - a number which Mawson believes "is not doing too bad" considering who he is targeting.
Speaking to Hawke's Bay Today, Mawson said it should be a simple process to get changed, but his "polite requests and voicemail messages have been ignored", hence this petition.
"I understand why they did the intersection like it was actually quite paramount to pedestrian safety and for the flow of traffic."
However, he says it has "actually caused just as much hassle as they have solved problems".
"If you were the second car to leave Maadi Rd into Kennedy with the intention to turn right into Wycliffe, you wouldn't make it before the yellow light turns on. Then you need to wait at the red arrow while the intersection clears and no cars are coming."
