Summary
- Wellington City Council is planning to install five raised pedestrian crossing along Thorndon Quay.
- The Post reports that this 1.7km section of road is “a main arterial route from the northern suburbs” with “over 11,000 vehicles every day” using the road.
- Four Wellington City Councillors (Diane Calvert, Tony Randle, Ray Chung, and Nicola Young) are reported to be vocally criticising the planned project using words such as “folly”,“simply crazy”, “nonsensical”, and “madness”.
- The local AA chairperson is reported to be asking for the rationale and evidence to support the project.
- Concerns have been raised about the excessive numbers of raised crossing impeding emergency vehicles.
- The planned project came from the Let’s Get Wellington Moving organisation which was shutdown in 2023.
- The Spinoff and Stuff is reporting an estimated project cost of $55 million.
- The planned project also includes improved cycle lanes, partial removal of carparks for Special Vehicle Lanes, and redesigned bus stops.
- The Greater Wellington Regional Council’s public transport arm (Metlink) is reported to want raised features (speed bumps and raised crossings) minimised on busy bus routes. A Metlink manager expressed concern about wear and tear on buses and negative impacts on passengers.
Article Details
Headline: Traffic light crossing bonanza raises hackles
Authored by: Julie Jacobson
Published on: 3 July 2024
Published by: The Post, Stuff Limited
Link:
https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/350327978/traffic-light-crossing-bonanza-raises-hackles
Archived Link:
Headline: Windbag: The pedestrian crossing problem on Thorndon Quay
Authored by: Joel MacManus
Published on: 23 July 2024
Published by: The Spinoff
Link:
Archived Link:
Important Quotes
“Six pedestrian-activated crossings, five of them raised, are being installed along a 1.7km section of Thorndon Quay – between Mulgrave Street and Gun City on Hutt Road – as part of the Wellington City Council’s push to get more people using low carbon transport options.”
Julie Jacobson in Traffic light crossing bonanza raises hackles, The Post, 3 July 2024
“But instead of making minor pedestrian improvements, the proposed design goes way overboard. Five raised pedestrian crossings with traffic lights, plus a sixth non-raised crossing with traffic lights. It’s a big-budget, gold standard approach, but it goes against the primary aim of the project. Raised crossings and excessive traffic lights will make bus and bike access worse, not better.”
Joel MacManus in Windbag: The pedestrian crossing problem on Thorndon Quay, The Spinoff, 23 July 2024
“Meanwhile bus and emergency services drivers – there is a fire station and ambulance station on the route – have argued the number of raised crossings is excessive and they have become an impediment.”
Julie Jacobson in Traffic light crossing bonanza raises hackles,The Post, 3 July 2024
“Metlink prefers the installation of traffic control devices, like speed bumps and raised crossings, to be minimised on high frequency bus routes. They can accentuate wear and tear on our buses and reduce ride quality for our passengers.”
Metlink group manager Samantha Gain as quoted by Joel MacManus in Windbag: The pedestrian crossing problem on Thorndon Quay, The Spinoff, 23 July 2024
“All part of council officers’ plan to kill Wellington. I was talking with a friend whose husband died from motor neurone disease last year. He had a number of ambulance trips and the bumping was agonising for him – especially on the trip that turned out to be his last. She’s convinced the bumping hastened his death.”
Councillor Nicola Young as quoted by Julie Jacobson in Traffic light crossing bonanza raises hackles,The Post, 3 July 2024
“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that we’re having speed humps as well as traffic signals – a complete waste of money. It’s almost as if we bought a dozen speed humps at a fire sale and now we’re looking for places to put them.”
Councillor Ray Chung as quoted by Julie Jacobson in Traffic light crossing bonanza raises hackles,The Post, 3 July 2024
“In terms of the numbers of speed bumps, this is what happens when you have multiple organisations and consultants (ex Let’s Get Wellington Moving) with no public accountability designing public space and treating the ratepayers as an ATM and local businesses as an irritant to their folly… In the meantime you have 110-year-old water pipes being covered over, only for everything to be dug up again in a few years which in turn will be funded no doubt by ratepayers’ double digit rate increases.”
Councillor Diane Calvert as quoted by Julie Jacobson in Traffic light crossing bonanza raises hackles,The Post, 3 July 2024
“A risk-based cost estimate has been prepared for the recommended option. The project has an estimated cost in the range of $55.3m (P50) – $66.8m (P95). The estimates do not account for inflation or discounting and excludes any property costs apart from land associated with proposed works at Aotea Quay roundabout. The cost associated with land acquisition are estimated to be $1.8m (P50) – $2.2m (P95). Implementation of the project will also result in existing and additional assets requiring ongoing maintenance. A key risk is that the project cost exceeds the level of affordability. ”
Page 12 of Thorndon Quay Hutt Road Single Stage Business Case Final Report, Let’s Get Wellington Moving,14 February 2022
Opposition mobilises against the five raised crossings on Thorndon Quay, Wellington
