Changes made to pedestrian upgrades post community feedback

Two new pedestrian crossings will go ahead for Broadway in Stratford, with one zebra crossing located in between the roundabouts and a courtesy crossing in the vicinity of Seyton Street. The final locations of these crossings are in response to strong community feedback received on the original proposal.

On Thursday 20 June Stratford District Council (SDC) met to discuss the pedestrian crossing project put forward to the community for feedback early June.

The meeting was well attended with over 30 members of the public present and two deputations were also made to Elected Members. One from a business owner on Broadway and the other from the Chair of the Stratford Business Association committee, both opposing the proposed options.

Over 150 people participated in the feedback process for this project, either through the online engagement tools at YourSay.Stratford.govt.nz or through emailing feedback@stratford.govt.nz. The majority of those providing comments shared their disagreement in the proposed options put forward.

In response to this, SDC elected members were presented with a range of additional options to consider alongside the original proposal in Thursday’s meeting.

These options included the ability to:

• decline the funding altogether and not proceed with the project.
• defer the project and apply for funding at a later date (with the risk that this could be declined)
• carry out traffic modelling to identify the possibility of a signalled crossing and apply for the funding later (with the risk that this could be declined)
• construct just one new crossing in between the roundabouts north of the existing one and close access at the current Glockenspiel crossing (possible within the current funding)
• construct a courtesy crossing in northern Broadway near Seyton Street (possible within the current funding).

These additional options were a direct result of the feedback received from the community and illustrate the importance of community engagement.

Elected Members deliberated the pros and cons across the options in front of them, sharing their views on their preferred way forward, which eventually came down to a vote.

Councillor Grant Boyde moved a motion for replacing the existing crossing with one new crossing to the north of the Glockenspiel and installing a courtesy crossing on northern Broadway in an area near Seyton Street. Councillor Annette Dudley seconded this motion which was supported in a vote from 9 out of 10 Elected Members present.

District Mayor Neil Volzke says the outcome of the discussion has landed somewhere we feel to be more representative of the wider views of our community. “It came through loud and clear that the options on the table weren’t satisfactory for a number of people, but it was also evident that people believed something needs to be done to improve pedestrian safety on State Highway 3.”

“We think the combination of a new and improved pedestrian crossing in a fairly central location between the roundabouts and a courtesy crossing further north near Seyton Street will help alleviate the concerns raised on both sides of the argument, while at the same time improving safety for pedestrians.” he says.

“Now we just have to get the work done, which you’ll see start as soon as Tuesday next week.”

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What's a courtesy crossing?

A courtesy crossing provides a designated area for pedestrians to cross a road. It's not marked like a zebra crossing. Instead it uses colour or other visible markers like refuge islands, to encourage drivers to slow down and look for pedestrians, and gives pedestrians somewhere to safely wait to cross the road. There is one on SH43/Regan Street, near the Bike Park entrance (pictured below).

Drivers are not required to stop at courtesy crossings, however the official New Zealand road code recommends that drivers are courteous to pedestrians using or waiting to use a courtesy crossing.

Initial design of central Pedestrian Zebra Crossing north of the Glockenspiel below. There may be tweaks to this prior to final implementation.