Hello Del

Thankyou for your recent telephone call to a colleague, the content of which has been forwarded to me to respond to.

We have investigated the crash scene and have heard reports of the power outage for several hours on Wednesday night that impacted on up to 10 streets for 4-5 hours in some cases. We also have had reports from Northpower following of the incident, of up to 50 lights which have been effected by the high voltage outage. Council contractors are currently working to reinstate all the streetlighting in the neighbouring streets.

On all accounts speed and a loss of control on the corner are the most likely causation factors. Behavioural factors are not known at this stage although we have asked the Police for more information.

In response to your request, speed humps are considered in areas where there is a consistently high level of pedestrian activity throughout the day, for example outside schools. Palmer Crescent and Holdsworth Avenue are examples, and where measured speeds are excessive.

In March 2024 Miro Street speeds were measured. These measurements indicated mean speeds of 47.2 km/h and 46.3 km/h in the westbound and eastbound directions respectively which is below the 50km/h speed limit. The trigger for considerations for traffic calming throughout the council area references the 85% speed with a threshold of 55km/h. In this case the 85% speed was measured at 53.1 and 51.3 for westbound and eastbound directions, respectively. We use this measure to strategically consider and prioritise traffic calming in residential areas. We have regular requests for traffic calming on our streets in Upper Hutt.

Given this, in this case we view speed humps as an inappropriate safety measure response. We do, however, have a number of other actions planned for this area, including adding another chevron board to complement the existing advanced curve warning and chevron board signs. Road marking in the area including Miro Street and Ararino Street will also be repainted with additional parking edge lines painted on both sides of the road to enhance the current centre-line markings. This treatment visually narrows the road which, in turn is known to reduce traffic speeds. This is programmed for early 2025.

These treatments are considered good traffic engineering practice and will be undertaken in the early part of 2025.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards Charles