25 April, 2024

New $425k Forrest Hill Rd crossing wins approval

A new crossing with signals will be built by Auckland Transport (AT) across Forrest Hill Rd, near the corner of Blakeborough Dr, at an estimated cost of around $425,000.
It will replace two existing mid-road refuge islands, either side of bus stops.
AT says the islands “aren’t ideal” because reaching them from the footpath requires people to cross two lanes on a main road with a T2 lane.
The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board agreed at its April business meeting last week to use nearly half of its discretionary Local Board Transport Capital Fund on the work.
The crossing will be just south of where a pedestrian died at the Blakeborough Rd corner in 2018, after being hit by a vehicle.
Members George Wood and Mel Powell, who both live in the area, convinced their fellow board members to support a project option that included kerb ‘buildouts’ on the Blakeborough Dr corner to slow vehicles entering Forrest Hill Rd.
Blakeborough was a local rat-run route, they said. Member Peter Allen agreed, and said speed on the T2 lane was a problem.
AT said it can do the build-outs and upgrade substandard footpaths at the corner as part of the project estimate, but cautioned costs would not be finalised until detailed designs were done. Construction would likely be a year or more away.
Board members have faced flak after AT last year built a series of costly raised crossings on East Coast Rd. These have been cited as an example of overkill, for which funding has recently been reduced.
Although board members have questioned the need to install “gold standard” crossings in some other areas,
Powell and Woods say the Forrest Hill Rd project is justified, given how many school children, residents and commuters cross the road daily.
An extra-wide raised crossing at Narrow Neck Beach, estimated to cost $345,000, has also won board approval. This will use up most of the rest of its three-yearly local-transport spend.
Members want a workshop held so they can have a say on where any remaining money is spent – probably favouring safety signage – rather than see it disappearing into AT’s city-wide coffers.
They have also asked AT to consult them regarding several other projects, including another raised crossing at the already signalised intersection of Forrest Hill Rd and Tristram Ave.
Due to problems with excessive numbers of road cones repeatedly and unexpectedly disrupting traffic, AT has also been asked to better inform the board about traffic-management plans coming up in its area.

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