Opposition to Wellington City Council’s plan to install five raised pedestrian crossing along 1.7km section of Thorndon Quay appears to be having an impact. The project, estimated to cost over $45 million would have seen the pedestrian-crossing-on-top-of-a-speed bump designs installed on one of Wellington’s busy arterial roads near the “Cake tin” stadium.
RNZ reported the following about a Wellington City Council meeting in August 2024:
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The Council’s Regulatory Processes Committee voted to reduce the number of raised crossings on the Thorndon Quay project from five down to two.
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NZTA (Waka Kotahi) removed the project’s funding for raised crossings due to a change in government policy.
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Minister of Transport Simeon Brown changed the land transport policy to “no longer funding raised crossings”.
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Council staff recommended the option of installing all five planned and with the cost to Council then increasing by $312,500 to cover the missing NZTA funding.
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Council staff also presented cost cutting options of removing a single crossing from the plan to save $125,000 or only installing non-raised crossings to save $625,000.
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Committee chairperson Sarah Free put a proposal to reduce the number of raised crossings to a debate and vote.
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The Council mentioned “ongoing feedback from stakeholders” as a reason to reconsider the project.
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Councillor Ben McNulty walked out of the Committee meeting before the vote.
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Councillor Diane Calvert and Councillor Nureddin Abdurahman also left the meeting.
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Councillor Diane Calvert’s prior proposal to move the decision to September had “narrowly failed” to gain enough votes to pass.
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The vote to reduce the number of crossings passed.
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In July 2024 a local group won a Court of Appeal case against the Council’s decision-making process to remove carparks from Thorndon Quay.
In the days before the Council meeting various views on the issue were also published.
The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus criticised Wellington City Councillor Ray Chung for telling an anecdote about a friends death and saying that raised crossings delay emergency vehicles. Joel MacManus was not keen on the Councillor’s “Every second counts” statement. Joel MacManus does detail how firefighters around the world have criticised cycle lanes, speed bumps, and other traffic calming measures. The opinion piece goes on to state that “Fire departments have a narrow safety remit” and MacManus stresses the importance of “perceptions of safety” to increase the amount of women and children travelling by bicycle.
ACT Local Government spokesman Cameron Luxton put out a press release criticising the Wellington City Council for their planned “18.5% rates hike” and urged the Council not to get further into debt to fund the “gold-plated option” of raised pedestrian crossings. The ACT spokesman went on to detail the case of a Grey Lynn raised crossing that costed $490,000 and called on the Wellington City Council’s elected members to “show they’re in touch with ratepayers and send the council officers back to the drawing board” for the Thorndon Quay project.
In a further update, the “Save Thorndon Quay” petition hosted by the The Taxpayers’ Union had gained over 2,500 signatures before the end of August.
Article Details
Headline: Wellington councillors walk out of meeting, refuse to vote on controversial project
Authored by: Lauren Crimp
Published on: 08 August 2024
Published by: RNZ
Link:
Archived Link:
Headline: Windbag: Why firefighters often oppose pedestrian safety measures
Authored by: Joel MacManus
Published on: 06 August 2024
Published by: The Spinoff
Link:
Archived Link:
Headline: Councils increasing debt to fund raised crossings are out of touch
Authored by: Cameron Luxton
Published on: 06 August 2024
Published by: ACT Party
Link:
https://www.act.org.nz/councils_increasing_debt_to_fund_raised_crossings_are_out_of_touch
Archived Link:
Important Quotes
“They’re telling us it’s the safest option, it’s best practice, but that they won’t fund it if we do it,”
Wellington City Council Transport and Infrastructure Manager Brad Singh on the NZTA views about installing raised crossings, as quoted by RNZ in Wellington councillors walk out of meeting, refuse to vote on controversial project, 08 August 2024
“I just feel fundamentally uncomfortable about playing role of traffic engineer here, so I’m going to leave the room,”
Wellington City Councillor Ben McNulty, as quoted by RNZ in Wellington councillors walk out of meeting, refuse to vote on controversial project, 08 August 2024
“Last month, the Court of Appeal found Wellington City Council erred in its decision-making process to change car parks on Thorndon Quay. But it did not order the ongoing roadworks be halted, or the carpark changes undone.”
Lauren Crimp, RNZ in Wellington councillors walk out of meeting, refuse to vote on controversial project, 08 August 2024
“Fire departments have a narrow safety remit. They think primarily about getting to their jobs and saving lives. It’s not their job to think about how a street change will affect carbon emissions or retail sale figures or the rates of kids biking to school, nor should it be.”
Joel MacManus, The Spinoff, Windbag: Why firefighters often oppose pedestrian safety measures, 06 August 2024
“It’s really important to have a public discussion about street design. Streets are negotiated spaces, owned collectively by everyone, so everyone should be part of the conversation about their form. Almost every city in the world is taking steps to move away from car-centric design to adopt more people-friendly streets. Wellington City Council is embracing that change with more enthusiasm and pace than most. There will be mistakes – for example, the proposed design of Thorndon Quay goes a bit overboard – but, with a bit of creativity, there will also be solutions.”
Joel MacManus,The Spinoff, Windbag: Why firefighters often oppose pedestrian safety measures, 06 August 2024
“’Raised table’ pedestrian crossings are a gold-plated option that slow down commuters and emergency services alike, and often cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Cameron Luxton, ACT Local Government spokesman, Councils increasing debt to fund raised crossings are out of touch, 06 August 2024
“With the change of government there’s been a change in gear on transport policy, and local councils need to get with the programme. Councils can no longer rely on taxpayer support for the kind of false improvements that proliferated under Labour’s Road to Zero fantasy, and it’s not fair to just pass the bill on to tomorrow’s ratepayers.”
Cameron Luxton, ACT Local Government spokesman, Councils increasing debt to fund raised crossings are out of touch, 06 August 2024
Further reading on this issue
Opposition mobilises against the five raised crossings on Thorndon Quay, Wellington
