Dunedin Central City schools cluster road safety

Dunedin City Council commissioned ViaStrada to develop an area-wide approach to addressing road safety issues around the five central city schools. By considering the whole study area as one (i.e. the “Central Schools Cluster”), a series of consistent treatments can be used to reinforce to all users entering the area (especially motorists) that they need to look out for other users (especially school pupils) and behave appropriately.

ViaStrada assessed current travel patterns, and safety data, and interviewed school principals. After a joint school options workshop and further consultation with bus service operators, NZ Police, and parking enforcement officers, a short list of options was identified.

Potential treatments were grouped into four area-wide strategies that incorporate various component treatments:

• Crossing points: addressing pedestrian accessibility and safety
• Gateway thresholds for area visibility, crossing aids, and speed management
• Parking streets: relocating and concentrating parking supply
• Speed management: area-wide part-time or permanent lower speed zone

An implementation strategy addresses physical, budgetary, and social constraints to change by presenting three possible levels of treatment for each strategy. Each level has different cost (low, medium and high cost), timing (1-2 years short term, 2-3 years medium term, 3-5+ years long term), and road safety effectiveness (minor impact, medium impact, significant impact) characteristics.

The section on longer-term projects identifies locations requiring significant expenditure and redesign to make the road environment safer for all users.

Separate documents produced during this project include specific, detailed analyses and plans for speed and parking management. The following layout plan provides a summary overview of the proposed treatments.