Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency’s post construction safety audit of Ōhaupō village pedestrian safety improvements won’t be made public unless Waipā District Council makes an Official Information Act request.
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That’s according to council transportation manager Bryan Hudson who summarised the audit’s findings for Pirongia Ward Committee last week.
Bryan Hudson
“We ask NZTA publicly whether we can release the safety audit,” Hudson said. “We will need to make an Official Information Act request to them.”
The council installed a pedestrian crossing on Great Burke Street along with traffic calming speed bumps last summer and is awaiting NZTA to finish the job by resurfacing the highway.
The audit called for the removal of trip hazards for pedestrians, improvements to some of the roadside parking bays and minimisation of cars exiting Inspiration Boulevard Blocking the footpath.
The council will remove two bollards in the centre of the Great Burke Street crossing to improve legibility for the vision impaired and add yellow paint to highlight this potential trip hazard.
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The edgeline of two parking spaces adjacent to Ōhaupō Motors will be marked to achieve a wider shoulder as part of the NZTA pavement rehabilitation work in the 2024/25 financial year.
Council staff will discuss promoting a one-way system in Inspiration Boulevard’s carpark to minimise cars exiting onto Great South Road blocking the footpath.
Hudson told the committee the project had addressed angst in the community.
“The businesses really like the end result,” he said.
Hudson also corrected a statement in council programme engineer Erik Van Der Wel’s report that said NZTA contributed $1.5 million to the $2.1 million cost of the construction. In fact, NZTA contributed $1 million.
The committee heard NZTA had advised that it will be carrying out a full rehabilitation of the highway pavement from Forkert Road in the north to approximately 100m south of Great Collins Street.
“The scope of the rehabilitation was allowed for in council’s works and the central pedestrian crossing and parking shoulders will not be disturbed by the NZTA work, which is complementary,” the report said.
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“Construction of the pavement rehabilitation is planned to be carried out before Christmas 2024.”
However, NZTA media manager Natasha Utting told The News the road rehabilitation work was scheduled to be delivered in February 2025, but the programme schedule was still being finalised with contractor, Fulton Hogan.
Committee member Andrew Reymer said Hudson’s summary of the audit was adequate and asked how long the pavement refurbishment would take.
“I don’t know,” said Hudson. “I understand it will be done to quite a depth. It will last 50 years.”
Councillor Bruce Thomas was delighted with the crossing.
“This is the culmination of many years of lobbying to get a safe crossing in Ōhaupō.”
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