The Road Transport Forum says a proposal to lower speed limits and introduce a new raised pedestrian crossing on Cobham Dr, the State Highway 1 route to and from Wellington airport, “doesn’t stack up”.
Submissions on the project close on July 28 and the RTF is among a group of Wellington businesses and stakeholders feeling “frustrated” by the Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) initiative.
“I’ve said before, Let’s Get Wellington Moving is a misnomer and to get things moving, we’ve got to stop slowing things down,” RTF chief executive Nick Leggett says.
“This is our main state highway and vital route to Wellington’s airport, we don’t want to see time added to that journey without strong evidence, which is currently missing in action,” he says.
LGWM says the project will provide better connections so that more people can use the new walking and bike paths.
It says lowering the speed limit to 60km/h on Cobham Dr and adding a raised pedestrian crossing will make it “safer and easier” for people to get to places like the nearby ASB Sports Centre, Rongotai College and Kilbirnie town centre.
However, Leggett says more evidence is needed to justify the costs and a roading network that favours cyclists and pedestrians over motorists.
“We believe they are talking about spending around $1 million for a raised pedestrian crossing, with lights, for a handful of people who might want to cross this road where they don’t need to. This will disadvantage the 35,000 vehicles that typically use Cobham Dr every day.
“We have seen no cost-benefit analyses to underpin this crossing and we know that a controlled pedestrian crossing will further slow traffic on this vital route – to a stop when the lights are red and to a crawl to get over the raised crossing.
“The guise of road safety can’t be taken to mean safety at any cost and we don’t believe New Zealanders have signed up for that.
“We believe Let’s Get Wellington Moving has missed one critical scenario in its planning, that of doing nothing and maintaining the status quo. It jumped straight to a starting point of delivering a crossing, regardless of justification and cost.
“We urge Let’s Get Wellington Moving to develop and provide a more balanced case on the impacts of this proposal on all parties, and in particular to provide quality data on the economic and social impacts,” Leggett says.
Safer speed limits
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency regional relationships director Emma Speight says safer speed limits are a proven tool that will help save lives.
“We want everyone who uses our roads to get to where they’re going safely. Even when speed doesn’t cause a crash, it is always a factor in the severity and can be the difference between a person being killed, seriously injured, or walking away from a crash,” Speight says.
Wellington mayor Andy Foster says a new crossing will help expand the Eastern suburbs’ walking and cycling network.
“Right now, there is no place to safely cross State Highway 1 anywhere between Miramar and the Evans Bay Parade traffic lights.
“We have tragically seen fatalities when people have crossed Cobham Dr, which is a massive barrier to walking, running, and biking between Miramar and Kilbirnie. This severance was certainly an issue when the ASB Centre was proposed.
“We are also already seeing increased numbers of people cycling, walking, and running as a result of the shared pathways we’ve built around Cobham Dr and Evans Bay. The crossing will make it easier to get to and from the pathways into Kilbirnie helping people get where they’re going by bike or foot,” Foster says.
The proposed crossing would be controlled by two sets of traffic lights (one for each direction of travel). It says when activated by pedestrians, it would mean shorter red light wait times for people travelling in vehicles on SH1.
LGWM says its investigations found that a crossing at road level controlled by traffic lights is the most cost-effective way to improve safety and can be built the soonest with the least disruption.
It would improve ease of access for people of all ages and abilities and would not require long ramps or stairs going over or under the road, it says.
*Construction on the crossing is expected to begin later this year. The RTF submission to Let’s Get Wellington Moving is available here.
