Parents of children travelling on a bus to north Nelson have been left “furious” after they say a bus stop has been made more dangerous than it was before they began campaigning for it to be changed.
Local parents Miriam Woon and Allison Daughtrey contacted the Nelson Weekly in February, concerned about the bus stop at Todds Valley, that children as young as 12 use to get to school in Nelson.
In the morning, the bus picks them up at Todd Bush Rd on SH6 heading into Nelson, a perfectly safe stop according to the pair. However, in the afternoon, the bus pulls into a stop on the opposite side of the highway, leaving students to run across the highway – a stretch of road that is in an 80kmh speed zone.
The pair said the intersection is not safe for children to cross, claiming that visibility of cars coming from the direction of the Glen is well outside Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s safety guidelines.
The couple enlisted the help of Nelson MP Rachel Boyack who took their concerns to the Minister of Education Erica Stanford.
At the time, Ministry of Education group manager school transport James Meffan said the bus stop had recently been reviewed by both the school bus provider and the ministry to ensure that it is consistent with Waka Kotahi’s safe siting guidelines and found that it was safe to use.
However, following a meeting between parents and local ministry staff on 12 April, ministry staff and the transport provider visited the bus stop on SH6 and conducted a review, which found that the stop is “not consistent” with safety guidelines.
In a letter sent to meeting attendants on Monday, MOE regional liaison lead Tracey Tupi-Rewi said they have made the decision that, from Monday 13 May, the bus will now stop further down the highway at the Wakapuaka Sandflats.
“I understand that this may impact the convenience of the service for some caregivers,” she said in the letter.
She reiterated that caregivers maintain the responsibility of getting children to and from bus stops safely, including “supervising road crossings where necessary”.
The change means that, if students aren’t collected from the bus stop, they will need to walk more than 550m along the highway against the flow of traffic, and cross the road at the same point as before.
“We’re trying to prevent something from happening but it feels like more things are going to arise,” Miriam says.
“We’re furious because we approached the ministry because it’s so unsafe, and this isn’t a solution.”
