Residents in a rural area on the southern edge of Hamilton are angry at a nine-month closure of their road, saying it will put their lives at risk.
The SH3 - Raynes Road junction just south of Hamilton. Photo: Google Maps
A detour will mean they will need to make a right-turn onto busy State Highway 3 to get into the city.
Peacockes Road will close near its western-end for the construction of water supply and waste and storm water infrastructure.
The Hamilton City Council said the work on Peacockes Road was significant and there was not space to do the work and keep the road open at the same time.
Margot Buchanan has lived on Peacockes Road for 16 years.
The extra traffic, which could be up to between 500 and 600 extra cars at peak time in the morning, would have to negotiate getting onto SH3 at the Raynes Road junction, she said.
The road at that point was currently regarded as medium to high risk.
"Risk analysis is traffic volume dependent, so the direct result of the road closure will be that the traffic volumes on that intersection will increase substantially and the risk analysis doesn't appear to have taken that into account in a satisfactory or comprehensive way," Buchanan said.
Based on the predicted traffic flows, Buchanan estimated that at the morning peak, a car would do a right-hand manoeuvre on to the state highway at least every minute.
"My question to the people that are responsible for this decision would be, how many deaths or serious accidents will be too many as a result of this decision?
"Where does their risk threshold lie. Is it going to be if there is one serious head injury will they revise their decision? If there are two dead grandparents, will they revise their decision? Where exactly does the community toll for their decisions sit?''
Residents had not been told about the road closure until quite recently, even though there had been talk about the Peacockes Road infrastructure changes for the last two to three years, she said.
''There has been a lack of community consultation, which isn't required, but would probably be advisable for this kind of step."
Doctor Scott Robinson was another affected resident.
He, like a number of people in the area, worked at the hospital. It was close - when the road was open.
''This end of Peacockes Road has a lot of doctors, who are senior doctors, who are on-call at the hospital and we live where we do because when we are on-call for an emergency where need to be there within about 15-minutes," Robinson said.
"Now with the new detour you can't possibly get there in that time and I think that is going to significantly delay senior doctors attending emergencies and I think that is going to put lives at risk.''
There was an easy solution to the road closure, as some residents were willing to have their land available for a temporary road, that locals could use to skirt around the construction work.
''We have suggested some simple alternatives like putting in a gate with a swipe card or a pin-number, that's what I have at the end of my driveway. It worked perfectly for 10 years, so that is an option.''
Buchanan said it seemed the council's resistance to a temporary road was due to cost.
''My approach is we should keep our community safe. It's an inconvenience for the local residents, but that is a less of a priority than the fact we should be keeping our residents safe. We should not be risking them going through that dangerous intersection.''
Council responds
Hamilton City Council director of strategic infrastructure Andrew Parsons said council was looking at how it could improve safety at the state highway junction.
''So has part of any normal roadworks there can be speed-reductions potentially or traffic management controls with signage, cones, etcetera. There are a range of things that we can do to manage safety.''
He was open to the idea of a residents-only temporary bypass, but safety had to come first.
''It's something we are very open to exploring and working through.
''So any space, if it's public space or just residents only space, that needs space through the work-site and currently we just don't have that space, but residents access is something that they have raised and we are working to try and accommodate that, but again our priorities are the safety of everyone, the community and the users.''
Residents said the lack of public consultation is appalling
Parsons said residents were given a month's notice about the road closure, which was twice the normal time.
''There have already been some meetings and there's been individual discussions as well, and there will be further meetings in the future. We are open to that as well.
''We are very keen to find the best possible solution, both for our workers and the community and local residents.''
The council was working as fast as it could, he said.
''I couldn't possibly give you a date on this at the moment but we are motivated and we have people working on it right now."
The temporary road closure is scheduled to start on 21 June and end in February 2022.
