Papakura residents say action needs to be taken before someone is killed at a notorious intersection which has been the scene of a number of serious crashes.
Papakura resident Belinda Norris says the number of serious crashes at the intersection of Cosgrave and Old Wairoa roads has to be addressed by Auckland Transport and she has taken to keeping a broom at the door of her home so she can go out and sweep up the debris from the next accident. Photo: Stephen Forbes / Stuff
Local resident Belinda Norris said there were two serious car crashes at the same spot on Thursday last week alone and it had been an ongoing problem in the 13 years she had lived in the area.
The majority of the accidents involved cars travelling along Old Wairoa Rd that did not stop at the intersection with Cosgrave Rd, Norris said.
"People are just getting T-boned," she said. "There were two accidents here last Thursday, one in the morning and one in the afternoon."
Norris said she was sick of waiting for Auckland Transport to act.
"I don't know if they are just waiting for someone to get killed?"
Auckland Transport (AT) said it was aware of the issue, and a process was underway to install measures to make it safer.
But Norris said it has got to the point where she had a broom at the door of her Cosgrave Rd home so she could go out and sweep up the debris from the next crash.
And Norris said the situation had become worse since new housing was constructed nearby and newcomers were not familiar with the roads.
"But this has been an ongoing problem for the last 15 to 20 years," she said. "There is a primary school just a few houses up the road and we would hate to have a child killed before the council does something about it."
An AT spokeswoman said it is aware of the dangerous intersection and is now looking at installing traffic lights at the crossroads. Photo: Stephen Forbes / Stuff
She said the road markings on Old Wairoa Rd were faded and not visible at night.
Her son Jovarn Broughton agreed and said he had even considered buying some yellow and white paint to redo them himself.
Nearby Cosgrove School's principal Gus Klein which is about 200 metres from the dangerous junction.
"I know there have been a number of accidents at the intersection," he said. "And there have been some that have happened during school time."
Klein said any attempt by AT to reduce the number of crashes would be welcome and the installation of traffic lights would probably help reduce the speed of motorists in the area.
Another local resident, who did not want to be named, said there was a crash every week at the intersection.
They were aware some of the local residents had been fighting for some time to get Auckland Transport to come to the table.
"They definitely need better signs and road markings."
An AT spokeswoman said safety remained its top priority and it was now looking at installing traffic lights at the dangerous crossroads.
"We are absolutely aware of the issues at this intersection," she said. "We are currently going through the design process to signalise the intersection.
"We will soon be going to public consultation on this and will keep the community updated as it progresses."
For Norris it was good to hear that AT was acknowledging the number of accidents at the crossroads as a problem.
"If it's actually going to happen that's great, but in the meantime AT could at least maintain things."
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air