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Wednesday, Wed, 14 MayMay 2025
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Truckers back fix for problem intersection

Pine Hill Rd / Great King St intersection. PHOTO: ODT FILES
Pine Hill Rd/Great King St intersection. PHOTO: ODT FILES
A proposed solution for a problematic North Dunedin intersection that would not involve adding traffic lights shows advice from the trucking industry has been heeded, a roading lobby group says.

Realigning part of State Highway 1 has been proposed by the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) to improve visibility at the intersection of Pine Hill Rd and Great King St.

An earlier suggestion of traffic lights at the bottom of the Pine Hill Rd downhill stretch was not favoured by officials and this pleased Transporting New Zealand.

"We were opposed to a new set of traffic lights being installed on SH1 between Great King St and Pine Hill Rd because that would unnecessarily slow and stop some traffic," chief executive Dom Kalasih said.

Transporting New Zealand was generally supportive of the transport agency’s latest plans for SH1 in Dunedin, he said.

A proposed shift of the Pine Hill Rd uphill lane out of Great King St by about 10m is a key point of interest in an NZTA business case.

The agency is seeking public feedback about a package of proposed changes until May 23.

Dom  Kalasih
Dom Kalasih
Great King St provides access to North East Valley, but it also crosses the main entry into Dunedin from the north.

Transport officials had previously observed the main issues there had included trucks having brake failure or brake fade as they came down Pine Hill Rd, inadequate visibility from Great King St and poor provision for cyclists and pedestrians.

Civil engineering firm WSP noted northeast-bound drivers in Great King St had poor visibility of southbound SH1 vehicles, leading to excessive queues, and some vehicles took "inappropriately small gaps to cross the SH1 movement".

NZTA spokesman Ian Duncan said there had been long-standing safety concerns.

"Our preferred option is to realign the SH1 traffic lane," he said.

"This would improve visibility and safety at the intersection and make it safer and more efficient for people heading to North East Valley."

Mr Kalasih said about 10,000 vehicles a day used the SH1 southbound section of the one-way system and northbound numbers were similar.

Trucks were about 5% of the traffic, he said.

Mr Kalasih said traffic lights would not have helped at the location.

"Unnecessarily slowing or stopping all those people and freight is not helpful, particularly when we are trying to improve the productivity of the nation," he said.

"What is most pleasing is it appears NZTA is taking a more balanced approach and beginning to propose solutions that improve both safety and productivity."

Mr Kalasih confirmed Transporting New Zealand would make a submission about the proposed changes.

grant.miller@odt.co.nz

 

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