Council endorses lighting feature for major roundabout
A five pillar, metal lighting feature could become the centrepiece for Cambridge’s largest roundabout, currently under construction on Hanlin Road.
At Waipā District Council’s service delivery meeting today, committee members unanimously endorsed the concept which was created following consultation in 2018 with the community.
Council transportation manager Bryan Hudson said the concept was a combination of lighting and art which aligned with feedback from the public. It also included a garden feature and planting.
“When we asked residents what they wanted to see in the centre of the roundabout, more than 35 per cent said an art feature and 20 per cent said a lighting feature. The remaining 45 per cent said a garden and planting.
“We’ve met in the middle and created a concept that satisfies all of these ideas. The other major benefit of this design is that it is cost effective and helps to improve visibility of the roundabout at night.”
Hudson said the feature would cost around $65,000 and take three months to create and install. Whether it was included in the construction, however, was dependent on the overall project budget.
“We have started this project with a healthy budget that includes the lighting feature but if there are any unforeseen circumstances during construction, we are not in a position to increase the budget and will need to make cuts. We need to deliver this project with as few compromises as possible.”
Hudson said Council would now go back to local iwi and then to the wider community for feedback before making any final decisions on the feature.
“At the end of the day, the community needs to be happy with this before we go ahead, so we’ll be running an online poll to get some feedback.”
The poll will be available on Council’s Facebook page, facebook.com/WaipaDistrictCouncil, in March.
Work on the roundabout project is now in its second week and is expected to take seven months to complete. Once finished, it will include a new bus stop, street lighting, landscaping, foothpaths and cycleways.
Head to www.waipadc.govt.nz/hanlinroad to stay up to date with the project.