High Street a key focus of Community Board's work for 2011

February 7th, 2011
[by David Armstrong]

The appearance and congestion of the town, particularly of High Street, will be key issues to be addressed by the Community Board this year if chairman David Ogilvie's first report of the year to Tuesday's meeting is anything to go by.

The report, which can be read here, revisits the congestion and town bypass issues and again urges the Board to maintain pressure on the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to listen to the people of Motueka who have indicated clearly their wish for traffic lights at Pah/Greenwood streets and roundabouts at the clock tower and Whakarewa Street intersections.

"'Don’t turn right into High Street' is the current cry, and 'especially from November through to February' is often added," he says. "It's become a Motueka joke, but it really is serious! Motueka drivers follow this direction as much as they can, especially from 8am to 6pm for all seven days of the week.

"It applies to virtually every street leading onto High Street from Parker Street and Fearon Street in the north, to Clock Tower corner in the south. It helps to explain the public demand for traffic lights at Pah Street/Greenwood Street intersection and round-a-bouts at Clock Tower corner and the Woodlands Avenue/Whakarewa Street corner.

"It will need to be one of the Board’s main concerns when it meets NZTA/TDC engineers at the end of March 2011. In the meantime, drivers rely on luck, or calculated risk-taking, or the goodwill of other drivers, should turning right into High Street become necessary."

The public demand David cites is shown in the traffic survey that the Board ran late last year seeking opinions from residents on steps that should be taken to alleviate congestion and hazards, and asking respondents to rank the most important actions. View the survey here. Read the full survey report here.

The appearance of High Street, particularly as the gateway to Motueka from the south, also needs attention and perhaps an overall plan, David says in his report.

"The entry to Motueka has the potential to be very attractive – the Moutere Inlet, Moutere River, 'Rest Awhile' reserve, roundabout, and wide grass berms along a wide High Street to the Clock Tower corner," he says. "There have been a number of worthwhile projects in recent years to maximise this entry, the latest being the 'Motueka' sign.

Plantings along the estuary, at the 'Rest Awhile', along High Street, and the roundabout have been initiated by community groups but without any over-riding plan. Is it timely to seek funding for a landscape design to provide an overall plan, making use of the sign and those plantings currently in place?"

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