Living Streets Hamilton

December 13^th 2007

Meeting held at CCS Disability Action, 17 Claudelands Rd at 5.30pm

 

Present: Peter Bos, Sandra Baxendine, Maxine Fraser, Daphne Bell, Judy McDonald

 

Apologies: David Peart, Fiona Green, Celia Hope

 

A range of matters were discussed and are presented below in order of appearance:

 

1. Sandra commented on the overgrowth of foliage on the Boundary Rd Bridge, at the narrowest point on the footpath, near the Eastern end. This cuts down an already narrow path by a further 30cm or so and could be dangerous if cycles and pedestrians are trying to pass each other. Judy will relay this concern to Philip King at HCC.

 

2. Philip King’s proposed Active Transport plan.  There was a general feeling that while cycling is reasonably well catered for and has a good long-term plan and sensible funding, there isn’t a lot for walking, especially in terms of proposed funding. It was felt there should be more emphasis placed on walkers’ needs. Peter suggested that as a long-term plan we might aim for something similar to what has been done for cycling and work to get say ten routes radiating out from Garden Place to specific destinations, such as the lake or the Hamilton Gardens, which can be walked safely with no uncontrolled crossings. This would mean that families, especially those with small children, would know that these routes were basically safe.  There was a suggestion that as many people as possible should provide feedback to Philip suggesting a stronger emphasis on walking matters and increased funding for the development of walking routes.

 

3. CBD walking map. The intention is that in January, possibly instead of our usual meeting, we have an evening walk to sort out and time routes to various inner city green spaces and relaxing areas. Comments were made on several issues regarding the CBD:

• The lack of a direct pedestrian crossing from the Claudelands Bridge to Centreplace. At present, to get there using controlled crossings needs multiple road crossings and involves accompanying delays. It is not possible to legally get straight across from the end of the bridge. If this could be altered it would greatly improve efficiency for people walking in across the Claudelands Bridge to the CBD.
• The problem of ‘unsafe’ feeling bits of the river walkway, which should otherwise be a very good source of lunchtime walks – graffiti under bridges and areas where walkers feel isolated.
• Unpleasant crossings, such as the very wide intersections at the end of the Whitiora Bridge at Victoria St, where pedestrians feel vulnerable to turning traffic
• The lack of any kind of pedestrian crossings at the Fairfield Bridge. This seems a good candidate for a specific submission to next years HCC annual plan.
• Good places for walks: the small and beautiful park at the end of London St by the river. There is also a potentially nice place right alongside Centreplace – a small green area that currently seems isolated and underused. Perhaps it could be opened up and made more of for lunchtime picnics.

 

4. Peter Bos offered to talk to councillors about active transport and is prepared to promote the idea to them.

 

5. Peter commented that street calming devices ought to be part of the Active Transport budget, and thought that the amount of funding available for this sort of work should be doubled. Daphne said that she could check the current level of expenditure.

 

6. There was some discussion of the issue of pedestrians in competition with left-turning traffic, where both have the green light at the same time. Judy will contact Roger Ward to see if phasing can be altered to make things safer. The Anglesea St crossing at the Warehouse is a particularly bad example because of the high numbers of pedestrians. It would be useful to know whether a Barnes Dance crossing could be investigated for this intersection. Possibly the delays would not be significantly greater than they are at present, where pedestrians have to wait for two separate sets of lights to do a diagonal crossing, and traffic often misses the chance to do a left turn because the intersection is clogged with pedestrian traffic. The relative safety of Frankton, where traffic lanes are very narrow and traffic is one-way, was commented on.

 

7. Peacockes Rd Variation 14 submissions: Peter Bos filled in some of the background with this area and explained his reason for supporting a road access alongside the proposed riverside reserve and walk/cycleway. He pointed out that the road would provide a lot more potential safety for walkers by having people constantly present very close to the walkway area. Comparative areas are the seafront roads and paths in Auckland, Napier and Mount Maunganui, where the paths are very open, widely used and in full view of passers-by. Many of Hamilton’s river paths, although beautiful, feel quite isolated and Peter pointed out that often women and children don’t feel safe using them alone. Providing the traffic using the road is appropriately slowed, it could actually increase the safety of walkers and cyclists. Judy will send a brief submission from Living Streets supporting this idea, and Peter has also sent a personal one.

 

8. There was some discussion on the need for a dedicated fund for a ten-year walking plan, akin to the cycling one. It was felt that this is something we should pursue with HCC