Road safety petition to be presented this week
A petition calling for road safety improvements in Gordonton Village is to be presented to Waikato MP Tim van de Molen this Thursday.
The petition calls for a range of modifications to roading and traffic through Gordonton.
These include reducing the current speed limit of 70km/hr, a safe crossing for school children, a footpath from the Eastwest College and Rainbows Early Childhood Centre to the Gordonton Domain, repairs, and open-graded porous asphalt to reduce noise, spray and splash.
John Wolff, who is one of seven residents behind the petition, said the group believed roading issues within the Village deserved equal priority with safety improvements implemented between Taupiri and Ballard Rd, along Gordonton Rd.
The group met with then National Party candidate for Waikato Tim van de Molen in early August, who recommended they document their concerns for him to relay to the next Minister of Transport.
“Nearly all of the 168 signatories want to see the speed limit reduced to make the traffic less dangerous for pedestrians.
“Those who have school age children and those who observe their difficulty in crossing Gordonton Road have documented explicitly their concerns over the hazards that exist for those children,” Mr Wolff said.
“These improvements require a shared responsibility between NZTA and Waikato District Council for their planning and implementation.”
The petition will be presented to Mr van de Molen in front of the Farm Shop at 11.30am Thursday (23 November), and a copy will be sent to Waikato District Mayor Allan Sanson.
“We’d like to see as many residents as possible from the wider Gordonton areas attend. The more who can attend, the stronger will be message conveyed,” he said.
The Gordonton District Committee and Gordonton School principal David McNair have written letters in support.
Mr Wolff said it was hard to judge progress at this stage.
“This is a question that will need to be re-asked every few months. The initial step is for roading engineers from each authority to agree on priorities and then design improvements that will address the safety concerns.”
An excellent idea and one that should be replicated in most small rural communities. I’ve never been able to see why you should have to play Russian roulette with the traffic just because you happen to live in the country! Maybe at the same time there could be a campaign for increased funding for bus services, so those living in Gordonton aren’t obliged to take a private car every time they need to do their grocery shopping in Rototuna?
Totally. I always thought it was ironic having a bus company based in Gordonton, but they didn’t offer services in to Hamilton!