Peachgrove Road improvements

5

4

2

2

1

Option One improves the area for children going in cars, going on bikes, or walking or scooting to school. The only option that really improves safety for boys and girls riding bikes to school is Option One. Please don't wait until someone is permanently injured or killed to implement this. We have been waiting at least 8 years to see SchoolLinks/Eastern Pathways plans put into action. To keep children on bikes safe, they need to be separated from cars and buses. Currently boys can be squished between buses and cars, there is virtually no room between the buses and cars, it was horrifying to have my son describe this to me a few years ago that one hand could touch a bus and another hand a car, while on his bike.
Option One will also reduce congestion on Peachgrove Road, benefiting everyone who goes through this area at peak school start and finish times. It will reduce congestion in two ways - by having no cars going in and out of parks, and by encouraging more students to bike and walk because the route is safer.
I played the HCC game of spot-the-difference and Option two also gives good safety improvements, but could cause a bit of confusion as the shared path doesn't go all the way between Kennedy Lane and Wilson Street. The other issue which I believe would occur would be that too many people would still try and park on Peachgrove Road, and then be parking illegally, because they won't all be able to fit. No parking along the whole length would send the message clearly that you have to park on the side streets.
Option three gives very little safety improvements. Children on bikes are still sharing the road with buses and cars going in and out of carparks/bus stops. The only thing going for it is the priority Argyle Street south is given for parking - if only some sides-streets or sides of side-streets will be restricted, Argyle St south should have the most restrictions compared with other streets. Option four does absolutely nothing to improve children's safety - the only thing it improves is the ability to drop off boys in a car close to the Argyle street entrance. Teenage boys without disabilities or large luggage can bus or bike if they live far away, bike and walk if they live closer, and walk from a side street if dropped off.
There are many contributors to the safety and congestion issues in this area, the mindset of parents that children must be driven to school, the actual and feared safety issues, parents driving to work with kids rather than bussing, cycling, walking or carpooling, the roading design, the behaviour of drivers. The behaviour of drivers is one of the reasons I favour Option One, as there are already yellow lines to disallow parking, but these are ignored. Safety for boys and girls cycling is optimum when they are on a path separated from cars. One contributor which is outside HCC's remit is the zone of Boys High. It has a very small zone compared to its intake from across Waikato and Waipa districts and across Hamilton City. Most boys come from out of zone - over 1000, creating a huge amount of traffic, compared to if these boys went to schools closer to their homes. There could be better alignment of school zoning policies with city planning. An idea that could potentially improve this issue is that those coming from out of zone get some sort of priority on enrolment, if they commit to generally using a bus or bike for transport and this is audited somehow such as via beecard use.

Somewhat unimportant

Cars pulling in and out of carparks into where boys are cycling is another big issue which Option One would largely solve. A suggestion I have for the side street parking - remove longer-term parking only on one side of each street. In Wellington where this has occurred it has been more successful than when all parking is removed. Residents could have a limited number of resident carparks, with resident parking permits given like in Wellington. In my observation although Argyle and Bond Streets close to HBHS get fairly full fairly quickly, all the other side streets often have plenty of space to park at peak school start time. From my observations there would be enough parking to absorb the increased peak school traffic coming off Peachgrove Road to park, particularly if one side of each street was converted to 10 minute parks and ticketed when they are first put in and intermittently.

Don't know/unsure

You do need to think about the side streets. For example if more people are going down James and Frances Streets as there is no parking on Peachgrove Rd, students crossing these streets may be more at risk. Currently James Street has a wide opening and a combination of boys not being careful, and cars quickly turning, results in near-misses. Something to slow those turning in and out of side streets would be helpful, but whether the gradual raised platform style is needed and effective I'm not so sure. Definitely making the entrances narrower would encourage drivers to reduce speed, and also reduce the risk of cars running over children by reducing the distance they need to walk to cross the roads.

Don't know/unsure

The money would be better spent on James Street than Wilson and Scott streets which are already narrower.

Don't know/unsure

I am less familiar with this end of Peachgrove Road. But assuming this has been based on patterns of boys walking across the road, and is a safe place to put a new crossing, it would improve safety for those walking from the southern end.

No, these are my own personal views

I am a parent of a student/future student at Hamilton Boys’ High School, I travel through the area