Signs pit school against Transit

A Whangarei school has accused Transit New Zealand of "bureaucratic bullying" after it removed road signs diverting traffic away from a dangerous intersection.

Otaika School principal Adrienne Battersby put the signs beside State Highway One last month in a bid to divert traffic via the northern Loop Rd access route rather than a dangerous intersection of SH1 and Loop and Portland Rds.

In the five years from January 2001 to December 2005 there were 16 crashes within a 300m radius of the Portland Road/Loop Rd intersection with the highway - including one fatality.
Mrs Battersby had also hoped the signs would make it easier for people to find the school. But the signs were removed after Transit deemed them to be "dangerous".

Transit usually warns people who put up unauthorised signs. "But in this case they were quite dangerous, so they did need to be taken down," said Transit's Northland area engineer Richard Green. "They were right on the sight lines when people turned from Loop Rd on to the highway."

After trying to contact Transit by phone and email last November, the school took matters into its own hands, erecting signs worth $1500 at both ends of Loop Rd where it intersects with SH1. The signs had the school's name on one side and a safety message and sponsor's logo on the other.

Mr Green said he had not seen any of Mrs Battersby's emails, and received one phone message on April 24. Transit had since advised the school on its strict roadside sign policies, and wanted to work with it to come up with a "win/win" solution.

"It's all about safety on the highway, and we're trying to come up with something that meets our requirements and serves her (Mrs Battersby's) purposes," he said. Standard "finger board" signs could be put up within a month, and he suggested the school apply to the Whangarei District Council for permission to put larger signs on land next to the highway. "It's pretty unlikely she'll be able to put them back up where they were," he said. "We wouldn't let them go on the road reserve on the highway."

Mrs Battersby feared emergency services would struggle to get to the small school. "People couldn't find us. We need to know that people know where we are. I've got 80 kids here at risk."

She said the situation was ironic given the school was part of a government road safety scheme, Road Sense Ata Haere, that aims to boost road safety education in schools. "I don't want rocket science - I just want people away from that blackspot," she said.

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE (WHANGAREI)