Conversations will be happening in the coming weeks between Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and Dunedin City Council staff about a planned review, the agency has confirmed.
The review would be carried out in the next financial year, Minister of Transport Michael Wood said in a letter sent to the Southern District Health Board last month.
The planned building of the new Dunedin Hospital in the central city resulted in the advancement of a package of projects designed to offset disruption to traffic.
Issues not yet resolved include whether the well-used SH1 pair of one-way routes around the new hospital should be retained or replaced by a two-way traffic model, and determination of speed limits in the area.
Retention of a 50kmh limit for both Cumberland and Castle Sts appears unlikely.
Waka Kotahi would continue to work with the hospital build project team, "to ensure the new Dunedin Hospital has appropriate levels of service and access through a slower, safer and less trafficked solution that enables improved pedestrian access and increased amenity", Mr Wood said.
Officials have previously signalled a speed limit of 40kmh could be imposed around the new hospital if the one-way system is retained.
Another possibility is — if a two-way model is preferred — the limit could stay at 50kmh in Castle St and be reduced to 30kmh in Cumberland St, if it became a local road rather than part of SH1.
The transport agency’s board last year backed a business case that retained the one-way system in enhanced form, but the city council challenged that and advocated for a two-way model as "the basis for future discussion".
In his letter, Mr Wood said Waka Kotahi was looking more closely at urban design improvements that could be made in both scenarios.
He had outlined his expectation, "that we recognise the generational opportunity to create a more sustainable, healthy and people-friendly transport system for Dunedin".
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Comments
It surprised and puzzled me why they were building the hospital there for this very reason , those streets are gridlocked at rush hour and that at 50km/h. If they slow traffic flow even more that means even worse traffic delays , meaning ambulances will take even long to get to the hospital. This should have all be sorted BEFORE they decided to build the hospital there. We have incompetent people in charge , otherwise explain how this situation arose ??
If there's a hold-up, like red lights, guess what will make the resulting traffic jam bigger faster:
Feeding vehicles into it at 50km/h
Feeding vehicles into it at 30km/h
Triage. Hospital takes priority.
In gridlocked traffic during rush hour?.......