Residents living close to the busy Queen St/Gladstone Rd intersection say they feel like their life is in the balance every time they cross the street.
Oakwoods resident Eleanore Wheeler felt so unsafe crossing the intersection, that after many near misses she decided to write to the New Zealand Transport Agency/Waka Kotahi (NZTA).
Unable to find a contact herself, she approached Age Concern, which helped connect her with the agency and alerted Nelson MP Rachel Boyack to the concerns.
Eleanore, who uses sticks to assist her when walking, was joined at the intersection on Friday by fellow Oakwoods residents Julie Ivory and Mike Rodwell, who both use mobility scooters.
Julie described the intersection as a “nightmare” and crossing it as a pedestrian could feel like “suicide”.
The trio say the danger zone is crossing from Richmond to get back home, with vehicles turning right from Lower Queen St into Gladstone Rd still travelling through the intersection when their pedestrian light turns green, despite the right-turn arrow being red.
AN NZTA/Waka Kotahi spokesperson says they were approached by Rachel Boyack on this issue between June and October this year.
The problem, residents say, is that the pedestrian light turns green almost immediately after the right-turn arrow turns red. Observations at the intersection last week found vehicles frequently entering the intersection on orange and, often, red lights.
In response, NZTA introduced changes to the red-light timing on Tuesday.
“We can confirm there are changes to signal phasing at the SH6/Queen Street intersection. This includes phase changes introduced at the end of August and new changes to red-light timing to be implemented from Tuesday.
“Changes introduce an extended red light signal time of 3.5 seconds. This gives vehicles more time, in the preceding right turn phase out of Lower Queen Street, to clear the intersection before the pedestrian phase starts. This helps reduce potential conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians.”
The spokesperson says signal phasing at the intersection is adaptive rather than fixed, meaning the amount of time allocated to each phase changes based on traffic demand and the time of day.
“NZTA/Waka Kotahi appreciates the concerns raised regarding pedestrian safety at this location, and the Wellington Transport Operations Centre will continue to monitor the intersection and has advised that there is scope to further extend the delay if ongoing concerns are identified.”
Rachel says more needs to be done.
“I am happy with the plan to do this piece first, and then to do the full Hope Bypass. Because if we have to wait for the entire Hope Bypass, then we're just living with this for years, and we've had enough. It is an absolute nightmare.
“The priorities have to be easing congestion, so the traffic flow through this whole area, pedestrian safety has to be forefront because we have so many people living in this area who are older and also really young.”
Eleanore currently won’t step out onto the crossing until she can see a vehicle stopped in the turning lane. But this means she often has to wait for multiple crossing phases before its safe to do so.
Julie instead uses the pedestrian crossing near Jubilee Park, which she says feels much safer.
Mike says he understands how frustrating the intersection can be for drivers, having worked as a commercial driver himself.
“They're trying to put food on the table. The commercial drivers, they work long hours, they're trying to make a living and it's exceedingly frustrating.”
Rachel believes a red-light camera should be installed at the intersection and has raised the idea with NZTA.
“While I appreciate that drivers get frustrated, they do have to give way to pedestrians, and stop at a red light.
However, NZTA says there are no plans to install a camera.
“There are criteria that potential locations must meet before a safety camera can be installed. We created these criteria by looking at where cameras have been most successful at reducing deaths and serious injuries.
“There are no immediate plans to install a red-light safety camera at this intersection. Any future plans would be dependent on funding levels and investment priorities,” the spokesperson says.
NZTA is currently completing detailed design for SH6 Gladstone Road and Lower Queen Street intersection improvements.
“This intersection is identified as one of the most congested parts of the project area, and in the short term will provide immediate benefits for SH6 and Lower Queen Street road users by addressing the southbound congestion issues and improving efficiency.”
NZTA are aiming to complete detailed design by mid-2027.
Rachel is thankful that NZTA have responded to the safety request “quite quickly”.
“But the push has to be on really tidying up this intersection over the next couple of years, so that it's much much safer for everybody. But also to acknowledge that for traffic coming through here, it's really frustrating.”
