Waiting for five years for road safety improvements on Dairy Flat Highway

Friday, 11 October 2019

Upper Harbour Local Board chairwoman Margaret Miles has been wanting the Dairy Flat Highway upgraded for a long time, here she is in 2014 talking about its safety concerns.

Pedestrians and motorists are still waiting for safety measures to be introduced at a dangerous intersection on Auckland's North Shore, more than five years after the issues were first identified.

The intersection of The Avenue and Dairy Flat Highway in Albany has been earmarked for traffic signals and additional improvements since 2013, but plans were continually put on the backburner by Auckland Transport (AT).

Stuff checks out the pedestrian bridge and new footpath on Gills Rd, Albany.

Residents had previously called the intersection a death trap owing to the high number of accidents, which included fatalities.

Earlier this year AT said it was considering joining the project with another long-awaited safety measure — extending the footpath at near-by Gills Rd.

* Treacherous Auckland road finally gets footpath but wait needed for more

* Roading projects are catching up with residential growth in Auckland's Albany

An artist's impression of the new roundabout at Dairy Flat Highway.

* Deadly Auckland highway to get much-needed safety improvements**

Residents waited a decade for the construction of the footpath and footbridge at Gills Rd which crosses into Albany Village. It was completed in July last year.

Construction of the new Dairy Flat Highway Coatesville-Riverhead Highway intersection roundabout is well under way.

The footpath was 260 metres short of joining an existing path at Living Stream Rd, leaving residents still walking on the road or, if it's not too muddy, on the old make-shift path.

It couldn't be finished until a major 300m link road between Gills Rd and Oteha Valley Rd was built, which had also been deferred while these two projects were jointly considered.

A new crossing with traffic lights located by the Mitre 10 MEGA on Oteha Valley Road is set to improve safety after two pedestrians died last year.

But on Thursday an AT spokesman said 'funding had been secured for the Gills Rd footpath extension and a detailed design was about to begin'.

However, there was still no decision for the work needed on Dairy Flat Highway.

AT said it had appointed an engineering consultant firm to review the previous Gills Rd and Dairy Flat Highway work and determine what they would prioritise for investment.

An assessment of safety improvements on Dairy Flat Highway was also a priority for their work, he said.

According to AT, North Shore's population is expected to grow by 17 per cent over the next 10 years, with 6000 more homes to be built around Silverdale and Dairy Flat.

Upper Harbour Local Board chairwoman Margaret Miles said the wait was frustrating, particularly when growth predictions had been around for some time.

She said the board was 'very disappointed' with the delays when the dangers were identified so many years ago.

'It's quite incredible the people of Albany are still waiting while it continually gets pushed out,' she said.

Miles said AT told the board the projects had been deferred because costs had escalated to more than what was initially approved.

But Miles could not understand how joining the projects would alter the funding needed: 'Surely the longer they wait the more it's going to cost.'

Five km north on Dairy Flat Highway, construction of a new roundabout at the Coatesville-Riverhead Highway intersection began this month, which included the addition of safety barriers.

The stretch of highway has claimed the lives of nine people, including social media star Johnny 'Danger' Bennett, since 2008.

Many of the crashes, which have seriously injured 55 people in the last 10 years, happened at the Coatesville-Riverhead/Dairy Flat Highway intersection, where the new roundabout will be built.

Meanwhile, Oteha Valley Road in Auckland‘s North Shore is in the process of a significant safety revamp following the death of a cyclist and pedestrian last year.

Nathan Kraatskow, 15, was killed while cycling by the Oteha Valley Road off-ramp, a site described as 'positively hostile' by cycling experts.

Five weeks earlier, 56-year-old Christine Ovens was hit and killed while crossing Oteha Valley Rd.

Auckland Transport on Friday announced a new pedestrian crossing with traffic lights, located by the Mitre 10 MEGA Albany.

This is the latest in a series of improvements for the area, which include a new cycle ramp, green cycle box markings and new bus stop markings.

AT's group manager of network management Randhir Karma said the project follows a petition received by AT in 2018 to improve road safety for pedestrians.

'This new crossing will offer much needed protection for our most vulnerable roads users and will make it easier and safer to cross this busy road, improving access to the Albany bus station,“ he said.