Safety measures considered after fake crossing painted on road

The Christchurch City Council is considering widening the traffic islands on a busy road after a fake pedestrian crossing was painted on it to address safety concerns.

A member of the public illegally painted the pedestrian crossing last month after a schoolgirl was hit by a cyclist on an e-bike while negotiating a traffic island near the Tennyson and Norwood Sts intersection. The fake crossing has since been removed.

• Fake pedestrian crossing painted on street after girl hit

In May 2018, a boy also suffered a broken leg after he was hit by a car at the same intersection.

Beckenham Neighbourhood Association chairman Greg Millier said its members want the city council to widen the traffic island closest to the intersection where the e-bike crash happened.

Said city council transport operations manager Steffan Thomas: “Widening of the islands is currently under consideration as a means to improve pedestrian safety.

“Design investigations are currently under way to develop a proposal to improve pedestrian safety.”

Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto principal Sandy Hastings said: “Needless to say the school is concerned and the board [of trustees] are concerned, as are other schools and early child areas in the area.”

Said Mr Miller: “A significant part of the Beckenham School community does cross that road on the way to and from school and really it’s crucial in terms of safety.

“There are quite a few [traffic islands] there [Tennyson St] at the moment and they’re just so small and the visibility is not that great.

“Particularly the one by the Norwood and Tennyson St corner. If you stand there on the footpath trying to look out for traffic to see if there’s anything coming when you want to get across to the traffic island, you can’t really see and just because of parked cars and things you can’t actually see much,” he said.

Mr Miller said he understands city council staff have to make a number of considerations before going ahead with safety improvements like widening traffic islands but said it is important something is done to keep school pupils safe.

He said in spite of the high cost ideally he would like the city council to consider installing traffic lights closer to the Norwood St end of Tennyson St in the future.

“I think in the short term, we would definitely like to see something provide some safe crossing points there and the that’s with a view to greater improvements down the track,” said Mr Miller.

However, Mr Thomas said: “It would be difficult to justify the signalisation of this intersection due to the residential nature of the area, relatively low traffic demand, and, compared to other intersections, there’s a low crash risk.”