The Devonport Flagstaff Page 6
July 2, 2021
Numerous near misses: safety fears over school street
A near accident involving his twin daughters has prompted local resident Tim McBride to campaign for safety improvements on a busy Devonport Street. He took his case for traffic-slowing measures on Kerr St – which runs beside Devonport Primary School to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board’s community forum last week, – armed with a letter from school principal Beverley Booth, stating that visibility and safe crossing were ongoing concerns. McBride told the board his daughters and three friends had come close to being hit by a vehicle when crossing Kerr St after an outing to The Vic Theatre in February. “Five girls were nearly taken out at speed,” he said. This had prompted his “keen layperson’s interest” in how the road could be made safer. He also pointed to an incident on the evening of 11 May, when a cyclist travelling down Victoria Rd was injured in a collision with a car turning into Kerr St. The busy section of Kerr St running down from St Aubyn St and Mays St to Victoria Rd was a particular problem area, said McBride. With parked cars on either side, the stretch was effectively reduced to one lane, meaning traffic tended to speed through from either direction to find clear passage before another vehicle approached. In regular walks along Kerr St past the school, McBride, a civil-liberties lawyer and former member of the Devonport Community
Safety campaigner… Tim McBride wants action over traffic issues in Kerr St Board, said he had witnessed a number of near misses in recent years. “Something needs to be done before there’s a really serious accident or worse,” he told board members. He suggested installing two raised pedestrian crossings, similar to one in Westwell Rd, Belmont, to slow traffic and improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists. One crossing could be located where there is currently a ramped pram-crossing below the school; another near the bottom of Kerr St, at or near the top of the footpath that leads down to The Vic. Pedestrians crossing the road to head up the maunga often did not appreciate the risk local traffic posed, he said.
Due to parked cars, they did not see rapidly approaching vehicles until the last minute. “On occasions, pedestrians are forced to take evasive action, when speeding cars appear from nowhere.” Principal Booth said in her letter that the school had previously asked for yellow lines to be extended to help make junctions along the road safer. This request had been declined by Auckland Transport (AT). “Narrow roads, parking and vehicle speeds all combine to cause safety concerns,” she said. Board members were sympathetic to the concerns, noting the road was a narrow and often congested cut-through. “I totally agree with you,” member Toni van Tonder told McBride. “They speed through the Victoria Rd zebra crossings too.” She suggested Kerr St be added to the traffic-speed evaluation AT was currently doing on central Devonport. Another possibility was for the road to be made one-way. McBride’s presentation was received with thanks, and will be passed on to AT, with the board to be included in AT’s response to McBride. McBride also alerted the board to separate issues at the Church St end of Kerr St. Here, some drivers treated the stop sign as a “give way” or ignored it altogether, he noted. This was dangerous for those travelling up Vauxhall Rd, who wished to enter Church St but could be met by drivers unexpectedly coming out of Kerr St.
