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Woodhouse Road and Patumahoe Road, Patumahoe - Raised table crossing Woodhouse Road and Patumahoe Road, Patumahoe - Raised table crossing

Proposal status: Feedback closed 21 May 2020, last updated 4 November 2020.

Reference number: CSFFR1.23

In May 2020, we proposed changes in your area

To improve safety and provide a safer walking route for school children, Franklin Local Board and Auckland Transport proposed to upgrade the existing pedestrian refuge crossing to a raised zebra crossing near Patumahoe Village.

Changes proposed included

  • Install a raised zebra crossing with side islands. This new crossing will give residents a safer crossing point on Woodhouse Road.
  • Paint new road markings to warn drivers of the presence of pedestrians.
  • Install broken yellow lines (no stopping at all times) parking restrictions to ensure visibility for drivers.

This proposal is also supported by the Auckland regional fuel tax.

Download the proposal drawing for Woodhouse Road and Patumahoe Road (PDF 1.7MB)

Proposal outcome

The proposed changes will proceed without changes to the next stage of detailed design before being implemented.

Thank you to everyone who responded to our proposal and gave us the chance to better understand your community and concerns. A summary of your feedback and our responses to community questions is below.

Community feedback

  • Request for the crossing to be relocated 100 metres down Woodhouse Road.
    The proposed location currently has an existing traffic island with a cut through to allow pedestrians to cross here, meaning there is an existing place for pedestrians to safely cross. If we were to relocate the crossing further down Woodhouse Road, crossing at the existing intersection will still occur. The proposed location of the crossing will improve the safety of pedestrians, as well as help slow vehicles down as they approach this intersection in both directions.
  • Concerns that the location of the crossing is too close to the corner and will impede on those turning right.
    As part of this proposal, we have ensured that the appropriate vehicle tracking checks have been included in this design to ensure vehicle movements will not be impeded.
  • Concerns that the proposed changes will make it unsafe for cyclists due to the road being too narrow.
    Cyclists travelling north through the crossing have a vehicle lane of 4.2m. At this width, both cyclists and vehicles can pass through side by side safely. Cyclists travelling south through the crossing have a vehicle lane of 3.0m. At this width, it is clear to drivers that there is insufficient room for them to pass through safely, side by side a cyclist. We recommend that cyclists take the lane when travelling south over the crossing.
  • Respondents believe the crossing should be located outside Four Square on Patumahoe Road as there are more safety issues for pedestrians in this location.
    This is a Local Board led project with the focus on providing a safe crossing facility across Woodhouse Road. There is also an existing place to cross here with a portion of the demand coming from school aged children walking to school. This section of Patumahoe Road was investigated in the past for installation of a new pedestrian crossing facility. The outcome was that the removal of number of parking spaces required in this high parking usage town centre area will not be acceptable by the community. Therefore it was not taken forward.
  • Request for the crossing to be installed without the traffic island to create better traffic flow.
    Installing central traffic island as part of our proposal effectively allows us to half the required crossing distance and break the crossing in two parts. This allows for a safer crossing experience for pedestrians as they will only need to concentrate on one side of traffic at a time and have a safe space to wait in the middle of the road.
    The central island also creates localised narrowing of the road which also helps to slow down the speeds of vehicles as they travel over the crossing. We can confirm that appropriate vehicle tracking checks have been included in this design to ensure vehicle movements will not be impeded.
  • Concerns that the proposal will increase congestion.
    As vehicles will only need to stop and give way when pedestrians are crossing, we expect that any additional congestion caused at this location will be minimal and have a insignificant effect on the efficiency of the intersection. The benefits of slower speeds at the intersection and a safe crossing point for pedestrians are considered to outweigh the minimal congestion caused.
  • Request for signage to be installed to encourage pedestrians to wait until it is safe to cross.
    The type of crossing proposed is a zebra crossing which gives priority to pedestrians crossing here over vehicles. These are a standard type of crossing found all over the Auckland region. We therefore, do not consider any additional signage necessary beyond the already proposed signage and line marking.

Next steps

We will be in touch with you when we know more about how this project will be impacted by the current budget constraints. Once funding is secured, our contractors will send notices to residents or businesses affected by works 48 hours before the work starts.

Community Safety Fund

This proposal is part of the Community Safety Fund. Auckland Transport is partnered with the Franklin Local Board to deliver this project, as part of more than 80 safety improvement projects across the Auckland region. The Community Safety Fund is a $20 million programme focused on addressing local road safety concerns raised by the community to local boards and ward councillors.

Franklin: Safe with us

Auckland Transport cares for your safety. We want to make our roads safe for everyone, people walking and cycling, especially for our kids and senior citizens and people driving. Projects like this one around Patumahoe Road are another step towards our goal of achieving no deaths or serious injuries on our roads. We are guided by the Vision Zero approach to transport safety, which prioritises human safety over other measures (like minor time saving).