There have been 170 pedestrian injuries from crashes in the past 10 years in the Rotorua district, seven of which were fatal. Photo / Andrew Warner
There have been 170 pedestrian injuries from crashes in the past 10 years in the Rotorua district, seven of which were fatal. Photo / Andrew Warner
It's a 3.4km stretch of road, one of the busiest in the city, and it has two pedestrian crossings.
Another 2.9km busy city road has two signalised intersections.
The council has "no specific plans" to add more crossings on the two roads which have recorded the most pedestrian injuriesfrom crashes in the past 10 years.
Clayton Rd and Fenton St have equally recorded 12 pedestrian injuries from crashes in the Rotorua district. The data, from Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency, showed three people suffered serious injuries and nine suffered minor injuries on each road.
SH30 had recorded the next highest with 11 injuries, four of which were fatal.
Rotorua McDonald's franchise co-owner Linley Parry said she suspected the numbers for Clayton Rd and Fenton St were because "they're probably the busiest roads we've got in the city".
But Parry's concern for pedestrians lay in "the integrity of the footpaths".
"There's a number of places where the bricks are loose," she said.
Parry said she had contacted the council and asked for support regarding the loose bricks.
Fenton St has recorded 12 pedestrian injuries from crashes in the past 10 years. Photo / Andrew Warner
The council's deputy chief executive of infrastructure and environment Stavros Michael said there were "no specific plans" to add more pedestrian crossings on either road.
However, there was "planning under way" for "improving pedestrian connectivity" through the 2021-2031 Long-term Plan and the inner-city revitalisation project which looked at how to improve the CBD's road corridors.
"Road safety is constantly monitored," he said.
"If road user safety concerns begin to show a pattern, assessments are done to determine if any infrastructure improvements are required to improve the safety of the road."
A pedestrian crossing outside Western Heights Primary School on Clayton Rd. Photo / Andrew Warner
A road safety assessment of Fenton St in 2008 led to the installation of roundabouts to "better manage traffic," he said.
In 2003, a corridor safety assessment of Clayton Rd led to the installation of speed humps to "reduce average driver speed - both of which led to a reduction in speed and crash rates".
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick was asked if another traffic safety review should be done on these roads in light of these figures.
She responded in a written statement: "As elected members, we are guided by council's expert staff in these operational matters. They determine where and when safety reviews are needed, based on relevant information and assessments."
Chadwick said the movement and safety of pedestrians would be "a key factor" taken into consideration when finalising plans for the CBD in the inner-city revitalisation project.
Michael said the section of Fenton St in the CBD was being considered as part of this project.
Funding had also been allocated to improve this section of Fenton St for both pedestrians and drivers in the Long-term Plan, he said.
"The safety of our community is paramount."
In response to Parry's concerns about loose bricks, Michael said the council "actively manages" hazards within the inner city, and encouraged people to report their concerns through the customer centre so they could be addressed and repaired.
The council's Long-term Plan 2021-2032 document mentions the "creation of an Inner-City Plan to build investor and development confidence in our CBD" as an economic development initiative.
It also says there is strong demand for providing transport infrastructure for multi-transport modes including for pedestrians.
Pedestrian crossings on Clayton Rd • Between May and Brookland Rds. • Outside Western Heights Primary School.
Pedestrian crossings on Fenton St • Signalised crossings at the Amohau intersection. • Signalised crossings at the Hinemoa St intersection . • A number of other crossing points (not pedestrian crossings).
Caveats • Data is provided to NZTA from the Crash Analysis System (CAS). • NZTA maintains the CAS which is updated once a Traffic Crash Report is received from NZ Police sometime after the crash. • Data is for all injury crashes between 2011 and 2021 as recorded in CAS as of August 17, 2021. • Data is limited to pedestrian (people on foot, skateboarders, wheeled pedestrians) crashes in the Rotorua District territorial local authority. • A crash, to be recorded in CAS, must have occurred on a road. The CAS definition of a road is any street, motorway or beach, or a place to which the public have access with a motor vehicle, whether as of right or not e.g. a public car park. • Due to the police reporting time frame and subsequent data processing there is a lag from the time of a crash to full and correct crash records within CAS. • Due to the nature of non-fatal crashes it is believed these are under-reported, with the level of under-reporting decreasing with the severity of the crash. • Where multiple roads meet at an intersection, the crash road is recorded as interpreted by the reporting officer. • 2020 and 2021 data is incomplete.
