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Auckland Transport (AT) is hoping to install two new pedestrian refuges at the northern end of Snells Beach with funding from Rodney Local Board’s capital expenditure budget.
If approved by the board after public consultation, a central refuge would be constructed near the Coast to Coast medical centre at 147 Mahurangi East Road.
A second refuge would be installed at the top of Governor Grey Road.
AT project manager Vukasin Sibinovski told a board workshop in early December the community had asked for a raised table or signalised pedestrian crossing between Governor Grey Road and Muncaster Road to make it safer for children crossing to catch the school bus.
However, budget constraints meant a pedestrian refuge was the best option and, after conducting traffic counts and pedestrian surveys, the 147 Mahu East Road site was chosen as the safest spot.
Sibinovski said this would involve moving the bus stops from just north of Governor Grey back to outside 144 Mahurangi East Road on the western side and to number 149 on the eastern side.
Although this would give the safest sightlines for drivers and pedestrians, it would mean the loss of around nine parking spaces.
Board member Michelle Carmichael pointed out this could potentially inconvenience Coast to Coast patients and asked for reassurance that there would be proper consultation on the proposals, which Sibinovski said there would.
He added that AT had decided to add a second pedestrian refuge at the top of Governor Grey after seeing the high number of crossings taking place there when carrying out surveys.
The two refuges should cost around $260,000, according to AT estimates. AT will report back to the local board with a design early next year.
