THE C O ATESVILL E C H R O N I CL E New Bus Stops to be Redesigned

Auckland Transport Media Release to Coatesville Chronicle, 27 March 2023 Community collaboration informs new design for Coatesville-Riverhead Highway bus stops

Auckland Transport’s Design Review Panel has recommended a revised design solution for the two bus stops on the CoatesvilleRiverhead Highway just west of the Coatesville township.

The ‘in-line’ (on-road) bus stops were installed at the request of the Rodney Local Board to service the popular 126 bus service between Westgate and Albany, however poor driver behaviour and community safety concerns mean the current design will be reviewed.

Louise Johnston from the Rodney Local Board says while the on-road bus stops meet all design and safety standards, speeding drivers and dangerous overtaking manoeuvres have been observed by those who live and travel in the area.

“This is a good example of where bus stops that work in an urban setting did not work on a rural busy road. The local community were rightfully concerned about the safety and driver behaviour.”

“I would like to thank members of the local Coatesville community, representative MPs, and Auckland Transport for coming together to discuss the issue and coming up with a solution,” she said. ”We’ve not only achieved a good collaborative result we have also established a regular forum to talk about all things transport for the benefit of our local community. Thank you to everybody that raised this issue and AT for addressing their concerns.”

AT’s Design Review Panel has recommended that the two bus stops be either fully or partially indented,

ANZAC Day Service

The Coatesville Residents and Ratepayers invite everyone to attend the ANZAC Day commemorative service at the Settlers Hall on Tuesday, 25 April. The service starts promptly at 7am so come a little earlier to get a good spot. As always, poppies will be available. Please bring along a gold coin for the RSA collection. A morning tea will follow the service where everyone is welcome to stay for refreshments and a catch up.

noting that the latter will require a review of the double yellow line markings on the Coatesville-Riverhead Highway. The new design is expected in May and a new bus stop standard suitable to the rural environment will be recommended for future designs.

Meanwhile both Mike Rowe from the Coatesville Residents and Ratepayers Association and the Hon Mark Mitchell have both acknowledged all those involved in establishing a community transport forum for Coastesville.

CRRA’s Mike Rowe has thanked MP Mark Mitchell for his initiative to have regular meetings with Auckland Transport, the CRRA and the local community, for a very pleasing result, also acknowledging the support of MP Chris Penk and Auckland councillor Greg Sayers.

“It’s good to have a transport forum that reflects the boundary changes and new electorate of Whangaparaoa”, said Mark Mitchell. “This is a great early win and I want to acknowledge and thank the team from AT for listening and responding so quickly to community feedback.”

Auckland Transport

Easter is a lovely time of year. The four-day break marks the end of term one for schools and the mid semester break for universities. It's easy to get together with your special people without the amped up energy of Christmas. And autumn gives everything a golden glow as leaves change colour.

This year it's looking like a mixed bag weatherwise, but a change in the weather means cooler nights and warmer jumpers, open fires and comfort food. Not all bad, although heavy rain feels more concerning than it used to.

All over Coatesville Auckland Council contractors are busy clearing debris from our streams while Auckland Transport fixes the slip on the highway. It's already week three of that 12-week project.

We'll be seeing more of AT's workforce in the coming months with the bus stop redesign likely to go ahead after May. AT will also start work on the car parking at the bottom of Glenmore Road and the pedestrian crossing over the CoatesvilleRiverhead Highway outside the Coatesville Store. On page 8 Louise Johnston discusses these projects and how they'll be funded as well as other issues of concern to locals.

The initial design and location of the 'gold-plated bus stops' ($420K) were hot topics at the start of 2022. But they'll almost be platinum plated by the time the redesign is finished. Still, hindsight is a wonderful thing. Driver behaviour is hard to predict and improving road safety is always worth the expense.

If you're on the road this Easter, take care and take your time. Road conditions have changed all over the North Island in recent months and we need to expect the unexpected.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Easter,

Diary Dates

∞ 6 April, Thursday, Term one ends at Coatesville School.

∞ 7 April, Good Friday

∞ 9 April, Easter Sunday

∞ 10 April, Easter Monday

∞ 25 April, Tuesday, ANZAC Day. The CRRA invites the community to attend the dawn service which starts at 7am. All welcome, refreshments to follow.

∞ 22 April, Saturday, Earth Day

∞ 26 April, Wednesday, Term 2 starts at Coatesville School.

∞ 7 May, Sunday, Coatesville Market 10am-2pm

∞ 14 May, Sunday, Mother's Day.

AT's Highway Repair Progress Update

Repair works are now well underway along CoatesvilleRiverhead Highway with our Downer team busy working on clearing the slip and piling preparations.

As of Monday, 3 April 2023, the night time road closure will no longer be in effect. Temporary traffic lights will still be in place. Piling works will also commence for the new retaining wall, which will take approximately two months to build.

On completion of the retaining wall, we will backfill the area and construction of the pavement will take place.

We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding during this process.

We encourage everyone to please be kind to the workers and follow traffic instructions and signage, so we all get home safe.

Auckland Transport

Jenny Beguely Retires

Jenny has shown extraordinary commitment to Coatesville School a huge presence in the school office for over 27 years! During that time Jenny has literally supported thousands of students, staff members and parents. Her amazing knowledge of the school, her dedication to provide information and advice to so many who enter our school office space for so many different reasons, and her passion for sport (especially football) and good food, have always been very evident.

Jenny has made a tremendous and unique contribution to our school. We share our immense gratitude and wish her a wonderful 'post-Coatesville School' life!