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Parents fighting for a proper pedestrian crossing in Matakana Road have vowed not to give up, despite Auckland Transport (AT) deciding that the area outside the primary school warrants neither a crossing nor a 40km/h school zone speed limit.
Since September, more than 500 people have signed a petition started by Renee and Chris Howe and meetings have been held with AT, police, the school, Matakana Community Group and parents over concerns surrounding pedestrian safety.
However, following these meetings and several “pedestrian observations”, AT has advised the school that Matakana Road does not warrant a new crossing and that the speed of traffic and number of pedestrians around the school are below the criteria needed for a special 40km/h zone.
Chris Howe says the decision is disappointing, not least because they had not yet formally presented the petition to AT. He says he is now working with a local transport planner to draw up a formal proposal for a pedestrian crossing further along Matakana Road, towards the village centre, since basic safety concerns over crossing the road have not altered.
He says that although the school has been active in teaching students about road safety and implementing Travelwise policies, and the new car park between the school and Riverglade Lane is being surfaced for permanent use, the amount of traffic still makes crossing the road hazardous for everyone at peak times.
“It’s not just the school. Come here on a Saturday morning as well, it’s absolute chaos,” he says. “We don’t want there to be an injury before anything happens. We’re not taking this as ‘no’.”
Amanda Stewart, another Matakana parent who has been instrumental in lobbying for a safer crossing, says she is losing faith in Council or AT ever understanding local concerns.
“It’s the same old thing, the same old bureaucratic nonsense,” she says. “No one, not one of them seems able to take a step back and look at what’s actually happening. They seem to be so wound up in data and numbers.”
She points out that while the new car park will help those driving to school, it will do nothing for students who live locally and either walk to the primary school or catch buses to Mahurangi College and North Shore schools.
Meanwhile, the building of the long-awaited footbridge between Matakana Road and Tamahunga Drive has been put back once again, with work not due to start until late January or early February. The project was originally slated to be finished last July. Work on a new footpath planned for below the school courts, across the road from Wharehine and Tumbleweed, is scheduled to start in June next year, see cartoon.
