Two Shirley intersection changes faced opposition from locals

Artist Impression of the raised platforms near the Palms Shopping Centre

The Christchurch City Council is facing criticism for pressing ahead with the installation of raised platforms at two Shirley intersections, despite opposition from the community.

In a council document, it said, “safe speed platforms encourage drivers to travel at a safer speed, providing people more time to react and avoid crashing. At lower speeds, there is also a better chance of people surviving a crash.”

Charges to the Shirley Road, Hills Road and Warrington Street intersection get underway this week, while changes to Shirley Road, New Brighton Road, Marshland Road and North Parade intersection – (by the Palms Shopping Centre) – begin next month.

While submitters were in favour of changes to the intersections, many did not support raised platforms, that’s according the council’s own summarised feedback it sent out to residents.

However, since the installation of similar platforms at the Lincoln/Barrington/Whiteleigh intersection, “safer speeds by drivers entering the intersection have been achieved,” according to a council report.

“In the preceding five-year period (2018-2022), there were 21 reported crashes at the Lincoln/Barrington/Whiteleigh intersection, including two crashes resulting in serious injury. There have been no reported crashes at this intersection in 2023 (as of 16/01/2024).”

Despite this data, the council's own report highlighted that 47 submitters opposed the safe speed platforms at the Shirley Road, Marshland Road and New Brighton Road Intersection, 37 were concerned about the cost, 31 were concerned about congestion, and 30 opposed the removal of the slip lane from Shirley Road to Marshland Road.

Councillor Kelly Barber said “I thought taking that slip lane away was madness but only Pauline Cotter and I voted to leave it in and so that was lost. (The slip lane even had a pedestrian crossing to make it safe for pedestrians)

“Twice as many residents wanted to keep it rather than see it gone but it was voted out” Barber said.

The council report said, “the purpose of this project is solely to address an ongoing safety risk to people who travel outside of vehicles at this intersection.

Key topics raised on the Shirley, Warrington, Hills intersection were requests for changes to the traffic signals and phasing, opposition to the safe speed platform, and concern about the cost.

“Improvements to the efficiency of the intersection are not the main objective of the project.”

"The safety platforms are designed to control speeds to 30 km/h and as such, at the most congested times of the day (where travel speeds are less) they are not expected to be detrimental to the efficiency of the intersection and exacerbate further any existing congestion-related issues. Slower speeds and improved facilities help to make people traveling outside of vehicles feel safer, enabling more people to choose other transport options.”

Local resident Simon McSherry said, “democracy is hard, it seems.”

He shared with Chris Lynch Media an email from the Christchurch City Council’s “Let’s Talk” team, which said, “we heard from 183 individuals and groups on the Shirley Road, Marshland Road, New Brighton Road, North Parade intersection. We heard from 202 individuals and groups on the Shirley Road, Warrington Street, Hills Road intersection. Key topics raised on the Shirley, Marshland, New Brighton, North Parade intersection were opposition to the safe speed platforms, concern about cost, concern about congestion.

Key topics raised on the Shirley, Warrington, Hills intersection were requests for changes to the traffic signals and phasing, opposition to the safe speed platform, and concern about the cost.”

McSherry expressed his frustration, saying, “community board members ignored the feedback of 180-200 people and barreled ahead with the plans either way.”

At a council meeting on April 10th, Councillor Victoria Henstock added, “we've seen it several times where the assertion is that we're concentrating too heavily on attempting to eliminate the risks entirely and we're doing so at the expense of the efficiency of our city-wide transport network and in doing so we're creating unnecessary congestion for the private vehicle users and our public transport.”

Community Board Member Ali Jones told Chris Lynch Media “I have no doubt that there is a place for raised platforms as mechanism to slow traffic down, if used in the right environment.

“What concerns me is the “one size fits all” approach with these platforms. There are other options but whenever they are suggested, there are reasons why they can’t be considered.

“I don’t accept these reasons. Just because we need to trial something first, or go to Waka Kotahi for approval of an option – these should not be reasons to dismiss new ways of doing things.

“Flashing lights alerting drivers to pedestrians crossing, red light cameras, more and better police enforcement, publicity campaigns about defensive driving – it’s a toolbox that should be used. Whacking raised platforms in and thinking “job done” is not, in my opinion, an effective way to manage what’s happening on our roads. We must think more strategically and more critically” Jones said.

Transport Operations Manager Stephen Wright said “following consultation, Council staff presented the feedback within reports to the relevant Community Boards for them to make a decision on whether the projects should proceed. For these two projects, the reports and the proposals within where approved.

The Shirley Road, Hills Road and Warrington Street changes were approved by the Waipapa Papanui-Innes-Central Community Board on 15 February 2024.

The Shirley Road, Marshland Road, New Brighton Road and North Parade intersection plans were approved at a joint meeting of the Waipapa Papanui-Innes-Central Community Board and Waitai Coastal-Burwood-Linwood Community Board on 13 February 2024.

Councillor Aaron Keown said “the public can see that these platforms are very anti car and the majority of the public use cars.

"People are not crashing at intersections where the drivers are doing the speed limit and watching the road, they crash when they are breaking the law. Our roads need more enforcement and less ideology.”