Awatea Street – Road safety improvements underway

Work has begun on a range of road safety improvements for Awatea Street, as well as the two intersections at Arawhata Street / Awatea Street and Awatea Street / Mungavin Avenue. 

Work began in May 2020, after being delayed due to the Covid-19 shutdown.

In 2018, and again in November/December 2019, Porirua City Council consulted with residents on Awatea Street and surrounding streets on a range of road safety proposals to address known speeding issues.

The feedback received prompted further modification of the proposals, and a final plan has now been developed which will see:

• The development of a raised courtesy crossing to improve the existing informal pedestrian crossing south of the kindergarten on Awatea Street. This will make it safer for pedestrians, as well as reduce the speed of vehicles.
• The upgrade of the intersection at Awatea/Arawhata Street to improve road and pedestrian safety
• The upgrade of the intersection of Awatea Street/Mungavin Ave to improve road and pedestrian safety

Download the Awatea Street road safety improvements plans

Speed Survey

Speed surveys were undertaken during 2018 at two locations near the kindergarten and near the Arawhata Street/Awatea Street intersection. The data shows that 43% of traffic passing the kindergarten was travelling in excess of 50km/h, while at the Arawhata Street & Awatea Street intersection around 18% of vehicles were exceeding 50km/h. Crash data from Awatea Street over the past 10 years shows us that there have been;

• 4 non-injury crashes on Awatea Street; and
• 4 non-injury crashes on Arawhata Street, near the intersection with Awatea Street.

If you’d like to know more about this project please contact Claire Giblin, Customer Liaison Manager – Transport, on email at [email protected]

- CLOSED CONSULTATION -

During 2018, Porirua City Council consulted with residents on Awatea Street and surrounding streets on a range of proposed safety improvements to address known speeding issues. Following that feedback a revised proposal has been prepared.

The new proposal introduces the use of chicanes – a traffic calming measure featuring built out kerb islands on either side of the road. These have been designed to go in at two locations to keep vehicle speeds below 45km/h while also ensuring larger vehicles such as trucks and emergency vehicles can get through safely.

The use of chicanes will help to drop vehicle speeds to a more acceptable level and reduce the risk of further crashes in the future.

Upgrades are also proposed at the intersections of Arawhata Street/Awatea Street and Mungavin Avenue/Awatea Street. Due to the layout of the Arawhata Street/Awatea Street, visibility and sightlines for all vehicles using this intersection are significantly reduced. By making some simple road marking improvements, many of the issues commonly raised by residents and other users of this intersection can be addressed.

Some more significant improvements are proposed at the Awatea Street/Mungavin Avenue intersection with the introduction of a central refuge island for pedestrians crossing at Awatea Street. This will help reduce the distance for people crossing and provide a place for them to wait safely in the middle of the road. Some minor road widening work on the western side of the intersection would be required in order to make these improvements

Download the 2019 Awatea and Mungavin Safety Improvements concept plans