TV473's transport group is building resiliance in North East Valley by promoting and encouraging land use and transport options which are not fossil fuel dependant.

We have organised bike repair days where people can get their bikes are fixed up and learn repair skills.  We have run a public meeting about improving north road for residents and road users by slowing traffic and enhancing infrastructure.  We have made submissions on the Dunedin City Council's annual plan.

We welcome residents interested in walking, cycling, public transport, electric vehicles, mobility scooters or any other innovative transport solutions to join our group.  Contact us at transitionvalley@king.net.nz if you are interested.

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Two third year Occupational Therapy students, Georgina and Grace, are currently working on a community project assisting North East Valley and the DCC in determining the need and potential success for a bike library in the North East Valley Community.

A Bike library is a nonprofit organization that will allow members of the community to loan or hire recycled bikes, which have been donated and done up within the community. The main idea of the bike library is increase accessibility and usage of bicycles. There are already bike libraries established in New Zealand and overseas, and they are investigating whether a similar project would work for Dunedin.

They have a short survey to ascertain the level of interest. Please fill out the survey if you are interested.

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John Whitelegg on "Health in the sustainable city"

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AUT Professor Grant Schofield talks about urban design and health, especially physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour. How do we apply these lessons to NE Valley?

Resources

Rail

• https://sites.google.com/site/thewayforward2011/

Share the road

• Share the road on Nelson City Council's website http://www.nelsoncitycouncil.co.nz/residential-shared-zones/
• Shared road lane markings "Sharrows" are becoming more popular overseas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_lane_marking

Previous Events

Public Meeting with Dr Glen Koorey, Slowing traffic on North Road

The meeting was held Thursday 28th April 7:30pm at the Valley Baptist Church Hall, 268 North Road.

Written feedback from attendees about how to improve North Road was collected in two attached documents at the bottom of the page.  One is a raw listing of the ideas collected from partcipants (called Meeting feedback April 2011) under each of the requested categories (What I can do, what the Council can do, and one other thing to improve the road.)  The other (Meeting feedback April 2011 grouped) is a spreadsheet with the ideas grouped by popularity and into 3 types of suggestion.

The most popular change suggested was to change the designation of the road (from District road) so that the community has more options to slow traffic and make the road safer.

Two significant ideas to came out of the discussion at the meeting.  One was to reduce the speed limit around the Gardens shopping area and make improvements to bring back a village centre feeling to the area.  The other was to modify the road to provide centre islands or some other means to break up the long straights, to naturally slow traffic and give pedestrians a better chance to cross the road in safety.  There are currently only three official crossings on the road; there are lights at the Bank Street intersections and opposite DNI, and a zebra crossing at North East Valley School.  For pedestrians further up the valley there is nothing.  This creates a danger particularly for children and elderly residents.  Ross Home and children playing sport at Chingford Park were areas of concern.

(The meeting invitation follows)

TV473's transport group are pleased to host a public meeting to discuss slowing traffic speeds on North Road.  Dr Koorey will discuss research from New Zealand and overseas highlighting advantages of slowing traffic, and explain how to get speed limits changed.

TV473's transport group have submitted to the DCC asking they look at the whole issue of urban speed limits in Dunedin.  Dangerous roads are a key factor preventing more people switching to active transport (walking and cycling).  Slowing vehicle traffic is a key way to make roads safer and accomodate different methods of transport, which gives people more choices.

This will be vital as rising petrol prices will put car travel out of many people's reach over the next decade or two.

Moving to active transport has many benefits including improved health and reduced accidents, but improvements to North Road could also provide other benefits.  A better road would be a more pleasant environment to spend time in, improve the use of local schools and retailers, and encourace new businesses into the Valley.

Dunedin residents would also be better off if they spent less on petrol. It is currently estimated that $50 million per year is spent on petrol, which is a drain on the Dunedin economy.

Dr Koorey is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Civil & Natural Resources Engineering at the University of Canterbury, where he teaches and does research in a variety of transportation engineering subjects, with a particular focus on sustainable transport and road safety. Prior to joining the University in 2004, he worked for 10 years with Opus International Consultants as a transportation engineer and road safety researcher.

Join Dr Koorey and other Valley residents for this important and thought provoking evening.  This is the first in a planned series of events run by TV473 designed to give residents a chance to have input into how improving our transport system could make the Valley a better place to live.