Richmond School ‘rapt’ with road safety upgrades

Richmond’s children are safer now that significant road upgrades outside of two primary schools have been completed.

William St, home to Henley School, as well as Cambridge and Dorset Streets, near Richmond School, have each seen improvements to their footpath and road-crossing facilities over the past few months.

Tasman District Council conducted the work to increase the safety of students travelling to and from school, and to link in with its wider programme upgrading Richmond’s active travel network.

The roads around Richmond School have seen increased traffic and congestion over the past two decades as the availability of the town’s parking has changed and traffic lights were installed at the intersection of Oxford St and Gladstone Rd.

The new upgrades have resulted in two new raised crossings that will slow traffic around the school while increasing the visibility of the children who use the crossings.

Footpaths have also been widened and carparks that resulted in poor visibility have been removed.

Richmond School principal Tim Brenton enthusiastically welcomed the changes.

“I’m just rapt with the job they did,” he says. “Now it’s so much safer for our kids without cars being able to go down there, the widening of the footpath and… the pedestrian crossings now.”

One of the new raised pedestrian crossings, on Cambridge St outside the school gates, was put in at the suggestion of students.

There was no pedestrian crossing in the location earlier and Tim had previously stationed teachers at the location to ensure the children were safe when crossing the road.

“Now, I’m just questioning whether we need to have the road patrollers there, because it’s a pedestrian crossing now. It makes car drivers more aware.”

Peter Kortegast, the design engineer for the project from WSP, says safer walking and cycling connections makes life easy for everybody.

“Particularly for the small ones. The skills they learn here about walking to school independently or cycling or scootering… makes such a difference, it sets up the habits for life.”

Another raised crossing across Church St, at its intersection with Gladstone Rd, is expected to begin in the coming weeks.

William St saw several raised crossings installed across or near the road, along with a widening of one footpath and a couple of kerb buildouts to help slow traffic.

Council’s transportation manager Jamie McPherson says it’s great to see people making use of the new facilities.

“As the different project elements get completed, and the larger ‘joined-up’ network of safer pedestrian crossing and cycleways emerges around Richmond, we expect to see even more people taking the opportunity to walk or cycle and experience the health and money-saving benefits of it.”

The two projects have a combined budget of about $2.92 million and were funded by Waka Kotahi.