Narrower main street safer, counters council

Hamilton City Council is defending its decision to narrow Victoria St's traffic lanes, saying pedestrian safety is its main concern.

The narrowing of Victoria St, part of the City Heart Project last year, is under fire from taxi drivers and business owners on the street who say the road is often backed up with traffic and the narrower lanes also make it harder for buses to get in and out of the bus stop.

But council senior project manager Jason Harrison said council had always known the tradeoff in making Victoria St a pedestrian-friendly and traffic-calmed environment was the possiblity it could increase congestion.

The council had collected data which showed reduced traffic speeds and, therefore, the narrowed portion of Victoria St was safer for pedestrians crossing the road at night.

Mr Harrison said the upgrade had been successful and, after getting feedback from key stakeholders, council was looking at the possibility of moving the bus stop and taxi stand to further improve the street.

"While we have received positive comments, a common issue coming through from respondents is [criticism of] the level of congestion."

There have been discussions about moving the Night Rider bus stop to Collingwood St, or the taxi rank back to Hood St.

Taxi driver Muhummed Hoissan said it was difficult to find pull-over spots on busy nights – Thursday, Friday and Saturday – because after 10pm the public parked in spaces allocated for taxis. "I have tried to call the city council many times about these problems on the taxi rank, but they say they can't do anything about it."

- © Fairfax NZ News