Busy Pedestrian Crossing Ready to Light Up

The first of two new signalised pedestrian crossings in New Plymouth will be turned on this weekend.

The crossing, on Devon Street West outside Devon Intermediate School, will begin operating on Saturday (22 September).

“We ask drivers to slow down and take care at this crossing while people get used to the new signals being in place,” says Let’s Go Project Manager Carl Whittleston.

On Monday the police education officer and school staff will be on hand to help students use the crossing, and the new system will be monitored during the weekend and throughout the week to see if any adjustments are needed.

“Next week is the last week of the school term so the pedestrian crossing signals will get a thorough work-out before the school holidays start.

“This is a very busy space, especially on school days, so we want to make sure there’s a good balance between pedestrian use and traffic flow,” says Mr Whittleston.

When this crossing is finished, work will begin on Powderham Street to remove the marked crossing outside the police station and replace it with a signalised pedestrian crossing a few metres to the west.

As both crossings are on state highways, the project is fully funded by the NZ Transport Agency as part of NPDC’s Let’s Go programme to improve the safety of pedestrians, drivers and cyclists.