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The Heathcote Valley Community Association's efforts to secure pedestrian safety at the Tunnel Road/Port Hills Road interchange are proving to be a struggle. It seems our letter to our Mayor, Bob Parker, landed on the right desk however.
A meeting was set up at the Linwood offices, attended by Mark Miller, and Steve Hughes, Christchurch City Council traffic planners, Bob Todd and Jo Daly from the Community Board, and Ian McLeod and Drina Sisarich from the Association. But will the community get any results?
The Association's Chair, Ian McLeod, outlined our concerns. These noted
that it is quite impossible, because of the risks, for children in the
Avoca
Valley, or any other pedestrian for that matter, to walk to the school
or to visit, other than by car, family and friends in the village, and
vice versa.
It was also suggested that rerouting the pedestrian access through
the Horotane Valley might be a possible solution. This would go under
the motorway at Horotane and around the back of the intersection to
re-emerge on Port Hills Road beyond the danger zone.
The response of the meeting was not encouraging however. It was
noted our situation does not warrant special attention and urgency is
driven by statistics and research. We should beware of asking for a
pathway that does not match where the users wish to go and the lack of
a path does in fact discourage anybody from attempting to walk under
the dangerous Tunnel road.
It was also pointed out that the entire road corridor along that
section of Port Hills Road is the sole responsibility of the New
Zealand Transport Agency, which means an approach should be made
directly to them. In regards to any walkway, it would be better and
cheaper to pipe the waterway and have a path over that than to build an
alternative along the toe of the off-ramp. It was also suggested we
should use the bus or a car
From this initial response, it doesn't look as if any solution is
going to be easy. The Association is not discouraged however, and will
continue to fight to secure pedestrian safety at this important valley
intersection.
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