Traffic-calming trial divides Lyall Bay residents

Residents in the Wellington suburb of Lyall Bay appear starkly divided by a trial of traffic-calming measures around the local school.

Parents and residents have applauded safety improvements for children accessing the school but another resident said the initiative had turned her street into a "rat run on steroids".

Since November 2023 a section of Freyberg Street that runs alongside the eastern entrance to Lyall Bay School has been closed to through traffic.

Plant boxes and seats were installed in a blue-painted pedestrian area between turning zones for traffic.

Pedestrian zones on the corners of the intersection of Wha and Freyberg streets excluded parking in order to create safer crossing areas for people heading to and from the school.

On the other side of the school, a raised crossing and judder bars have been installed on Queens Drive to slow traffic and discourage heavy vehicles moving through the area.

Wellington City Council today heard submissions on the proposal to make the measures permanent.

Local resident and Lyall Bay School Board of Trustee's member Tim Geard said the trial had greatly improved safety in the area.

"The trial has significantly improved the traffic environment around the school. Vehicle speeds have reduced, traffic volumes have decreased, and the addition of speed-calming measures has slowed vehicles entering the school zone, improved driver behaviour and reduced the risk of high-speed movements through an area heavily used by children and families," Geard said.

The board was aware of multiple vehicle accidents before the trial - including his own car being hit, he said.

"I've witnessed eight accidents on the intersection of Wha Street and Freyberg Street, along with my own vehicle being written off when a car was speeding down the road, crossed the centre line and then smashed into my parked car," Geard said.

Trial 'made it worse' for some

Amanda Green's two children attended Lyall Bay school. She said residents had been concerned about the high volume of traffic on Queens Drive for nearly 30 years and the trial had only exacerbated the problem.

"If you have the misfortune to live on the west of Queens Drive - just across the road from the school - you have no choice but to cross a road with nearly 5000 vehicle movements a day. The trial has merely succeeded in diverting traffic from one side of the school onto the other. It has completely divided the community.

"Queens Drive now carries 10 times the traffic volume of Freyberg Street. The council has claimed that Freyberg Street was a 'rat run' but, by their own definition, Queens Drive was a bigger rat run and now a rat run on steroids," Green said.

Another Queens Drive resident, Yvonne Weber, said those on the western side of the school "had suffered the greatest" due to the increase in traffic after the changes on Freyberg Street.

She cited council figures that showed a 21 percent increase in traffic along Queens Drive after the trial.

"I've lived in the area for 20 years. I've had to put up with traffic racing up and down Queens Drive. You've actually made it worse," Weber said.

Road patroller praises changes

Year 5 Lyall Bay School student Milo Hewat said he enjoyed walking, biking and scooting his way to school since the change.

"Before the trial it was dangerous because cars kept speeding down Freyberg Street. On the corner of Wha and Freyberg streets there are blue sticky-outie bits that are painted on the road. Since they have been there it is easier to check before crossing. Before it was painted it was harder to see."

Hewat said cars parking in the middle of the street and doing U-turns during drop-offs had made his road patrol duties at the school harder.

Kirsten Windelov, who helps run the school's road patrol, said informal counts during patrols showed fewer than 20 children accessed the school each day from the Queens Drive entrance.

She said preventing traffic from passing through Freyberg Street had improved safety for children coming to and from the school through its main - eastern side - entrance.

"The big change on Freyberg Street is that before it was almost carnage. It was very difficult and stressful," Windelov said.

She said the changes had enabled the school to reduce its road patrols on Freyberg Street.

"Now that's a much less busy school patrol site because kids can cross by themselves further up on the blue crossing. They just get on their bikes and they go. People hang out, they swing on the tree that's in the middle of the road. They feel completely safe and comfortable there," Windelov said.

Windelov agreed that some parents engaged in some "quite crazy things" when picking up children but said that before the initiative the behaviour was further complicated by traffic "bombing through the street" at the same time.

Drop-off chaos

That sentiment was echoed by several of the more vehement critics of the street safety trial.

Emma - who did not want to use her full name - said the closed-off street and minimally designed turning zones at either side of the blockage point were leading to unsafe driving.

"It's absolute mayhem. I've never seen such craziness. Wild west parking."

She said drivers were parking in the middle of the road, on yellow lines, in turning areas and even parking on the blue painted "hangout" areas on the street.

"It's just a big old crazy mess.

"You see children walk into the middle of the road where their parents' cars are parked. Not using the road crossings so it's less safe, and I'm surprised a child hasn't been hit.

"We've got road rules in place and speed laws for around schools and we should be able to rely on them rather than spending all this money," she said.

But another parent of Lyall Bay students, Robin, said the claims of traffic chaos were a "massive exaggeration".

"Absolutely people shouldn't be parking [in the middle of the road] but there's a road patrol crossing and then there's the actual closed-off road bit, so children should not need to be going across there," Robin said.

At several points, councillors noted the diametrically opposed nature of many of the submissions.

Living Streets Aotearoa's Trish Givens said the changes to the neighbourhood's layout had fostered positive social interactions as well as serving a safety and transport initiative.

"Streets are public spaces. They shape how neighbours interact, how children experience independence, and how connected communities feel. Projects such as this contribute to healthier communities, increased social connection, improved public health outcomes and greater opportunities for everyday physical activity," Givens said.