Otonga school's contingency plan as roadworks cause havoc

Otonga Primary School principal Linda Woon predicts traffic congestion this morning will be awful. Photo / Stephen Parker

Otonga Road Primary School's principal is predicting today's first day back could be "awful" because of nearby roadworks and traffic congestion.

The Rotorua Lakes Council is in the process of upgrading the roundabout at the intersection of Springfield and Otonga Rds but the temporary traffic lights installed there are causing headaches for commuters.

School principal Linda Woon said the school had frantically been trying to come up with a contingency plan and communicate it to parents before today.

"We will have approximately 400 cars causing traffic congestion if we don't manage to get emergency contingency planning communicated to all of our families for day one," Woon said.

"Starting back to school can be stressful enough for families without a significant traffic hassle to contend with on the way to school.

"I should think the first morning could be pretty awful," Woon said.

He said the school had thought of a strategy to reduce the hassle for parents. They were encouraging parents and children to use one of the three walking school buses after school, as students all leave at the same time.

The afternoon buses will be run by Woon, and the deputy and assistant principals but Woon was looking for parents to volunteer to lead the morning routes.

A Rotorua Lakes Council spokesperson previously said, while the project is scheduled for completion in mid-April, works immediately outside Otonga Road Primary School would be finished before the school year starts.

Woon said they were now expecting that work to take all of Term 1 because of weather delays.

Council staff had also met with the school board of trustees twice and worked with the school around road designs and traffic management.

Woon said it was a team effort and the school was still working with the council.

"It's everybody working together to get the message out because I think the first day of school is always stressful for families."

Woon expected the first day to be "difficult".

"Otonga School has a roll of 600 but about 400 come from out of zone at this stage. Now we're zoned that will reduce over time but that's 400 students who can't walk and bike," she said.

"Otonga School has a problem with traffic congestion under normal, every-day circumstances because of the huge number who travel a long way to our school."

Woon wanted to encourage parents to walk their children to school from one of the three drop-off points, and pick them up in the afternoons. The drop-off points are on the school's website and Facebook page.

"All we can do is plan and pray. It's going to be teamwork between the council, school and parents."

She expected Year 1 and new entrant children to still be dropped at school.

The safety improvements at the roundabout were supported by businesses, residents and parents of Otonga students.

The main factors in addressing the safety issues were the number of incidents at the site, the number of children crossing at the intersection, and the establishment of Otonga School zoning which will result in an increase in the number of children and parents walking to and from school.

The Rotorua Lakes Council's safe and sustainable journeys manager, Jodie Lawson, said the team had been working with the school.

"We encourage parents to consider alternatives to their usual pick-up and drop-off methods including using the walking school buses, riding or walking to school with their children or using different routes to get to school," Lawson said.

She said the temporary traffic signals would remain in place at the intersection and contractors were monitoring the traffic flow.

This week contractors will start work on the corner opposite the shops on the school side.

BACKGROUND
- The project is costing $490,000 and includes intersection improvements and CyWay works.
- Since 2010 there have been two cycling crashes and seven vehicle accidents at the intersection.
- The end results will be a raised platform roundabout with pedestrian crossings.
- Infrastructure is installed underground should there be a need for traffic signals in the future.
- One additional carpark added by businesses at the intersection.
- Businesses at the intersection reported loss of business as commuters avoid the area.