My Account
Safety first
Kathy Joyce Stanmore Bay
Mr Hannan, no no no! Are you seriously putting the Boulevard concept ahead of people’s safety? Why don’t you just close the Boulevard and make it just for pedestrians and let all traffic use another route? If you think people drive 30kph down there, you’re dreaming! I’ll be waiting to see how long before the first accident – either a pedestrian knocked over or a vehicle not noticing the crossing and killing someone. Do you really want this happening all because you want a certain ‘look’ for the Boulevard? Orewa has a lot of retired older people. Safety should be the first priority, for people and drivers.
Auckland Transport spokesperson Mark Hannan responds: The works aren’t complete yet. When the work is finished we will do a full Road Safety Audit to see if any changes are needed.
Crossing rules
Claire Teirney, Stanmore Bay.
I was shocked to see AT not having the standard zebra crossing bars in Orewa on the main road. Since when does look become more important than safety? Especially when cars, trucks and people are concerned. Surely, I thought to myself, there must be some regulations/standards about zebra crossing markings. And yes there are. According to the NZTA, zebra crossing transverse bars must be painted ‘reflectorised’ white, at least 2m long (3m or more desirable) and 0.3m wide with a 0.6 gap between.
Paint, not paving
Charlie Donaldson, Orewa.
Auckland Transport may feel that the important signals of a pedestrian crossing for drivers are all the signs, lights, etc. The fact is that strongly painted, white lines are what really draw a driver’s eye. That is why, even when all the ‘bells and whistles’ are added to those Orewa crossings, the trouble will continue until the grey pavers which people simply cannot see clearly, are replaced with good old fashioned paint – ‘boulevard concept’ notwithstanding.
Courtesy call
Karen Law, Gulf Harbour.
Happened to have just read the winter addition of the AA Directions magazine when my copy of Hibiscus Matters paper arrived with the article on page 3 about the Orewa crossings. Apparently, according to the AA, if a crossing is made from pavers or bricks they ‘are not official pedestrian crossings; pedestrians don’t have priority.’ It is considered a ‘courtesy crossing.’ So it will be interesting to see if motorists understand the difference after Auckland transport spending nearly $400,000 on them!
Editor’s note: We had a lot of feedback on this story – visit our Facebook page to join the conversation.
Control camping
Paul Lee, Manly.
Pleased to see that the local board is taking a firm stance on freedom camping. The locations put forward (HM July 4) make me wonder whether the staff putting those ideas forward had actually visited the Hibiscus Coast. I don’t have a problem with people parking up for a night at a location in a self contained vehicle, but the sheer numbers seen doing it so far on the Coast mean some strict controls and enforcement are needed.
Performance woeful
John Clements, Orewa.
I wonder how many Hibiscus Matters readers have seen the Local Government Commission’s Report about ‘Enhancing (improving?) Local Government for Aucklanders’? It does little more than confirm the obvious – the Council’s performance is woeful. As Mr Goff said when he was standing for Mayor, ‘satisfaction with the Council is at rock bottom’. CEO Stephen Town said, ‘The Council’s performance needs to improve’. But little has improved. In Orewa it’s almost impossible to get things done because, we’re told, ‘there’s no money’. With a wage bill spiralling towards a billion bucks a year I can see why. The Royal Commission that set up the Auckland Council made 32 recommendations that have not been implemented. Most were performance and control measures. Had they been, we might not be in such a parlous state. One of the recommendations was the appointment of a full time independent auditor of the Council’s performance. Any guesses why it hasn’t been made? More people need to tell the Council what’s wrong and, of course, recognise things they are doing right.
Beloved buses gone
Wendy Cohen, Arkles Bay.
The article about the local bus service (HM July 4), failed to mention the removal of our beloved 992x and 991x buses when the contracts changed. These express buses whisk us to and from the city at peak times, we do not have to change buses at Hibiscus Coast busway and meander through Albany down to the city or meander back through Silverdale home, reducing our commute by at least 10 if not 15 minutes. Whilst AT promise us more services at peak times, what are these peak times? Anthony Cross says they are designed to connect with each other, they said that when the NEX was first introduced and was quietly dropped, leaving us poor commuters waiting up to half an hour for our connections. I understand their removal is because Auckland Transport have no room for them in Auckland, not to benefit the travelling public! I fear the loss of our express buses will just see more commuters back in their cars, trying to park in Silverdale rather than waiting in Gulf Harbour or Orewa for their local feeders, and then there is the parking…
Auckland Transport spokesperson Mark Hannan responds: The changes mean we will be able to move more people more often. Buses will run from Waiwera and Orewa every 10 to 15 minutes to Hibiscus Coast Station between 7am and 8.30am, more than doubling the current frequency. They will match this service on the return at night between 5-7pm. From Gulf Harbour, Manly services will run every 6 to 8 minutes between 6am and 8am and every 7 to 10 minutes between 5pm and 7pm. At Hibiscus Coast Station these services will meet double decker buses to take people into the city, these will operate every 5 minutes.
