Mum relieved Auckland Transport fixing safety at school gate

Wednesday, 15 August 2018

Promised safety fixes outside the school gate have given a desperate Auckland mum reassurance her children can walk to school.

For years mother-of-three Jackie Gulik feared for the safety of her children walking the short distance between home and Hauraki School on the North Shore.

Worried there was no official pedestrian crossings on the route, Gulik and a 20-strong roster of 'safe crossing' volunteers took matters into their own hands as they manned two intersections outside the school each morning and afternoon, despite police and Auckland Transport labelling the makeshift crossings illegal.

However, respite came in the 2018/2019 AT regional safety budget.

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AT committed to the installation of new school-patrolled raised zebra crossings on Waitematā Rd and on Walter St to provide safe crossings for pedestrians walking along Jutland Rd to the school. The existing zebra crossing on Jutland Rd, outside the school gate, will also be upgraded into a school-patrolled raised zebra crossing.

Gulik said she was thrilled and could not wait for the pedestrian crossings to be installed, but it is not quite the end for the rogue crossing.

'It [the illegal crossing] will continue as a community initiative until a [official] crossing is put in place, at which time the school will take over the management of the crossings,' Gulik said.

Gulik said pedestrian safety is becoming increasingly important in the area as development takes off and more heavy construction vehicles coincide with an increasing number of children walking and cycling to school.

Further along Jutland Rd a new pedestrian refuge island will be put in to provide a safe crossing point to and from the Lake Town Green playground, a move Gulik said would be good for mums with prams accessing the park.

Hauraki is not the only North Shore suburb to benefit from the regional safety budget.

North Shore ward councillor Richard Hills said he was extremely happy AT had heard the concerns and stepped up their work on safety in the community.

'School kids especially need safe journeys and good infrastructure around their schools and neighbourhoods to reduce childhood obesity and create less traffic on the roads in the mornings,' Hills said.

This year on the North Shore more than 10 new pedestrian crossings as well as a number of safety projects around schools such as Willow Park, Glenfield, Northcote, Hauraki and Takapuna Primary Schools will get underway.

AT's group manager network management and safety, Randhir Karma, said improving road safety is the number one priority for AT.

'We are investing approximately $700 million, which is partly funded by the Regional Fuel Tax, around the region to make our roads safer. We are committed to reducing death and serious injuries on our roads by 60 per cent in the next 10 years,' Karma said.

One key project is investing in a crossing on Taharoto Rd, where a pedestrian was tragically killed in late 2016, Karma said.

Projects Hills has long been advocating for such as the crossings at Hinemoa St and Lake Rd and Kawana St, Northcote are also part of an extensive list.

'All of these projects aim to reduce the harm we are seeing on our roads in deaths and serious injuries,' Hills said.

'They will also benefit congestion on our roads, if we can encourage more people to walk and cycle safely from home to work, school, the shops or for recreation we will continue to reduce the reliance on motor-vehicles. This is about protecting those already using these alternate modes but also encouraging more.'