Green light for Greerton traffic lights

Crew spent Thursday working on the last bits of construction needed to get the lights in proper working order.

After months of traffic delays due to works in Greerton, the traffic lights near the Chadwick Road roundabout are now live.

The lights were due to be switched on at 6am today, September 21.

Speaking to Sun Media on Thursday, the project site manager says they spent Thursday working on the last of the asphalt, as well as putting in the rest of the white lines and some pedestrian crossing markings.

'They will be commissioning the lights and testing them,” says Rosalie Liddle Crawford who spoke with the site manager.

'They hope to have everything cleared away in time for the Cherry Blossom Festival on Saturday morning.”

The Cameron Road and Chadwick Road roundabout is ranked as the second worst local road in the city in terms of serious, minor and non-injury crashes.

Overall, in the past five years there have been 70 crashes in the area; two of these were serious crashes which involved a pedestrian and a cyclist, says a statement on the Tauranga City Council website.

The crash trend is increasing with 23 crashes in 2016 (prior to this the average number of crashes was about eight per year).

'To improve the safety for people in Greerton, we propose to reduce the number of ‘conflict' areas by taking away some traffic movements (such as U-turns and the right turn from Cornwall Street), providing signalised pedestrian crossings, and cycle facilities,” says the council.

'Full access will be maintained to properties, but some right turn movements will now need to be made at the roundabouts.”

The council hopes to improve general road safety at the Cameron Rd/Chadwick Rd intersection as well as improve safety for people moving through the area by foot, bike or mobility scooter.

The works are also hoped to protect existing trees, provide additional greenspace and trees, provide new cycle facilities, and help retain a ‘village feel'.

In 2015 council prepared a concept plan to replace the roundabout on the intersection of Cameron and Chadwick Roads with traffic lights.

After meeting with the community in November 2015 and hearing all of the concerns council recognised the concept would not achieve all of the desired outcomes as Greerton's ‘village feel' would be undermined.

'We spent 18 months evaluating a significant number of different options, which we believed could resolve the main safety issues in this area. This work included safety assessments and engineering reviews.

'Throughout this time, we have been working with the Greerton Village Community Association to make sure the chosen option meets the community's needs.”

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