‘Accident or near miss every day’: Community fights for fix to dangerous roads

Tuesday, 2 July 2024

Chloe Dangen burst into tears when she was almost T-boned by a driver who failed to stop at an intersection in rural Canterbury.

She pulled over, sobbing in shock and grateful her nephews, who she had just dropped off, were not in the car.

“It was so shocking. It has affected my driving.”

Multiple crashes and near misses have sparked urgent calls for improvements on rural roads that have become main routes into Christchurch.

Lincoln residents have petitioned the Selwyn District Council to make improvements at major intersections as increasing traffic turns former rural roads - such as Springs, Ellesmere and Birchs roads - into main commuter routes.

Lincoln Voice spokesperson Denise Carrick presented the petition, signed by more than 750 people, to the council on June 12, claiming an underinvestment in road safety was causing multiple near misses and crashes almost daily.

She said poor visibility of stop signs was a major factor.

“It feels like almost every day there is an accident or near miss at the moment.”

There were 78 serious crashes and 10 fatalities on Selwyn roads over the past six years, the petition stated. At least five were on Springs, Birches and Shands roads, according to NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi’s crash map.

“The Lincoln Community has experienced exponential growth over the past decade and is about to virtually double in size again, resulting in increased traffic, and these roads are no longer fit to accommodate safety,” the petition read.

Selwyn is the fastest growing district in Aotearoa. In the next 10 years, Prebbleton, Lincoln and Rolleston expect to get another 13,000 people, according to the council’s long-term plan.

However, that didn’t account for the number of motorists travelling between Christchurch and Lincoln every day for work, study and recreation.

Almost 2000 homes have been green lit for the Lincoln South subdivision and a new retirement village, but with more homes comes more wheels.

Carrick urged the council to install flashing stop signs, implement speed bumps or rumble strips, and increase maintenance of vegetation around major junctions to help motorists drive safer.

“[The council] said ‘yes, yes, yes’ to all the subdivisions, which is great, but you have to support them.”

The council’s infrastructure and property executive director, Tim Mason, said the road maintenance budget would increase by 50% over the next 10 years.

Within the next three years, $82.3 million was allocated to roading infrastructure maintenance, which included the Whitecliffs Bridge, but some suggested safety improvements - such as the flashing stop signs developed by former Selwyn cop Sergeant Dan Harker - had not been proven to improve safety, Mason said.

Temporary safety work had already begun, Mason said. Electric slow-down signs were installed at the Birchs and Robinsons roads intersection, and a section of Ellesmere Rd (between Leadleys and Tosswill roads) would receive a “comprehensive area-wide reconstruction”.

Dangen said the council should make sure the drivers on its roads were safe.

“It’s a combination of dangerous roads and bad driving.”

She’d sent dozens of examples of similar near misses to hers to the council.

Dr Brigette Gorman said her daily commute to Christchurch for work was “hair-raising”.

“I won’t let my daughter drive down that road.”

Gorman said she had emailed the council multiple times to share her concerns, and even contemplated contacting the Human Rights Commission “because I wondered if it was a breach in right to health”.

She had seen vehicles slide on local roads during winter.

“People are sliding and skidding on the roads. I don’t think it’s got anything to do with people’s driving habits.”