Ōhaupō Signalised Pedestrian Crossing

We're creating a safe pedestrian crossing point with traffic signals on Great South Road in Ōhaupō

Currently, there is no easy way for pedestrians to cross Great South Road (State Highway 3) and we’ve been told by our community this is an important issue to address.

The proposed crossing will be located in the centre of the main business district, outside the Windy Ridge Function Centre and the Ōhaupō Store. It will include pedestrian traffic signals, improvements to the footpath on either side of the road and an extension of the kerb on the neighbouring Great Burke Street.

As part of this project we will also be:

Constructing a raised platform on Great Burke Street to slow vehicles and make it safer for pedestrians to cross the road
Formalising carparks on Great Burke Street and Great South Road (SH3) to make parking easier and more efficient
Moving the bus stops closer to the town centre to take advantage of the new crossing and giving them an upgrade.

We have taken into account the feedback we received during community consultation at the end of last year, and made some final changes to our designs.

These changes include:

Constructing three raised safety platforms (in addition to the one planned for Great Burke Street) on State Highway 3 (SH3) to slow vehicle speeds through town. These are planned for just north of Café De Roadies, across the new signalized crossing, and north of the intersection of Great Collins Road
Changes to the proposed location of both bus stops to help optimise traffic movement and parking availability.

When can we expect construction to start?

Work on the new crossing was anticipated to start in early 2023 however, due to difficulties with procurement, work will now later this year.

Once underway, the project will take around three months to complete, weather dependent. SH3 will remain open for traffic during construction.

More information on what to expect during construction will be available when we know more about the timing of these works.

What you told us

On Wednesday 17 November 2021, we held an online information session with residents and business owners in Ōhaupō. This was an opportunity for us to share our plans for the signalised crossing in more detail and answer any questions.

Thank you to everyone who joined us! It was a fantastic session and there were many great questions. Some of the things raised during the meeting were:

Flashing warning lights should be considered before the crossing on both sides of Great South Road to warn vehicles of the signalized crossing ahead.
The new location of the bus stops must not reduce parking availability on the main street.
The proposed lane widths on Great South Road (SH3) should be checked to ensure that large vehicles such as tractors can still use this road.
Proposed lane widths on Great Burke Street should also be checked to ensure buses can still use this street.

Several concerns were also raised around the removal of parking spaces in the town centre. We are happy to confirm we will not be removing any of the parking spaces, we are formalising them which means we’ll add painted white lines to the road to make parking easier and more efficient.

We are working in partnership with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency to deliver this project.

What else are we doing in Ōhaupō?

We're also giving footpaths around Ōhaupō School and the pedestrian underpass north of the town a general refresh in the next few months.

This will include improving the lighting at either side of the underpass, constructing a raised pedestrian platform on West Road, and installing a roadside barrier on Great South Road (SH3).