Near miss at new Cobham Drive pedestrian crossing ahead of opening

The controversial pedestrian crossing on State Highway 1 on Cobham Drive in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell

There has been a near miss at a controversial new pedestrian crossing on State Highway 1 in Wellington before it has even opened.

A local motorist, who has lived in the eastern suburbs for 40 years, was driving to work in the city yesterday morning when she had to slam on the brakes at the crossing on Cobham Drive.

“I was driving at the 60km/h speed limit and coming out of the roundabout and then there was this woman straight in front of my car at the crossing just walking like she had right of way.

“If I hadn’t braked and put my horn on she could have been killed.”

The motorist said it was incredibly scary and worried some people might not realise the crossing isn’t open yet.

The controversial at-grade crossing controlled by traffic lights is part of the city’s $7.4 billion transport plan called Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM).

The crossing is designed to provide safe walking and cycling access across Cobham Drive, which is right next to the waterfront on the way to the airport.

As of the end of October 2022, LGWM had spent $2.4 million on the crossing. Of that, $1.86 million was for construction costs and $535,000 was for consultants.

Opponents have said the crossing will only make congestion worse by forcing cars to slow down to a walking pace on State Highway 1. They have advocated for an overbridge instead, which has been estimated to cost between $10 million and $17m.

The crossing was meant to be open by Christmas, but has been delayed by material supply and freight issues.

It is now expected to open by the end of this month.

LGWM programme director Sarah Gardner said they took safety at project sites very seriously.

“The contractors continue to take precautions to ensure it is obvious that the crossing is not ready or operating. This includes safety precautions such as barrier arm fencing across the pedestrian entrance to the crossing. There are also covers over the signals and road cones in place.”

Gardner said neither LGWM nor its contractors were aware of any incidents on-site during construction and have not witnessed or received any reports of an incident yesterday.

“Until the crossing opens, we would remind people that this is not yet a safe place to cross and encourage them to use the existing crossings, either at the intersection of Evans Bay Parade and Cobham Drive, or in the Miramar village.”

The public will be informed in advance when the crossing is ready to use, Gardner said.

The motorist involved in the near miss yesterday said she was worried that when the crossing did open, pedestrians might become impatient and decide to cross before the lights gave them right of way.

She said it would also take some time for motorists to get used to pedestrians being on that specific part of the road.

“They’ll need to slow down and scan for pedestrians... I would hate to see someone hurt there.”

The $2.4 million cost of the crossing was revealed last week by National’s transport spokesman Simeon Brown.

“Rather than delivering on major transport projects that Wellingtonians actually need, all that Let’s Get Wellington Moving has accomplished under Labour are a few intersection improvements and speed limit reductions to the airport and across the city,” Brown said.

But Transport Minister Michael Wood has previously defended LGWM’s progress, which includes plans for a second Mt Victoria Tunnel and light rail to the southern suburbs.

“More significant progress on transport projects has been delivered in Wellington under this government than any other in recent decades.

“It is not surprising that National are attacking Let’s Get Wellington Moving as they ignored Wellington for nine years while in office and would do so again.”