Mosgiel-Taieri Community Board member Martin Dillon is calling for the Dunedin City Council to act before more pedestrians are blindsided by a pair of black lamp-posts.
Mr Dillon, speaking to Dunedin City Council transportation safety team leader Hjarne Poulsen at a board meeting in Mosgiel last week, said he was being contacted by people who had walked into the lamp-posts in Church St in Mosgiel while it was dark since council contractors painted them black.
The lamp-posts are on either side of a decommissioned crossing and were painted black and white.
"I've had people ring me saying they've hit them ... People can't see them - why are the poles all black?''
Pedestrians never used to hit the posts when they were black and white, he said.
Mr Poulsen said the posts could no longer be black and white because the colours signified a pedestrian crossing and the crossing had been decommissioned.
Board chairwoman Sarah Nitis questioned how pedestrians could fail to see a pole when a light was on top of it.
"Do they just see a light dangling in the middle of the street?''
Mr Dillon said it was an issue which needed attention as he was "getting rung by people''.
Mr Poulsen said he would investigate.
At the meeting, Mr Poulsen said contractors would begin installing a kea crossing outside St Mary's School in Church St next month.
Kea crossings allow school patrols to control traffic and safely guide children across the street.
A reseal of Factory Rd from Church St to "just past'' Centre St would happen in the next financial year, Mr Poulsen said.
In the work, asphalt would be milled and refilled and chipseal would be resealed, he said.
Mr Dillon asked for a "definitive'' timeframe for the work.
"I've been on this board 21 years and I'm told every year it's going to be done in the next financial year.''
Mr Poulsen said he would investigate a timeframe for the board.
Mrs Nitis told Mr Poulsen the seal on the road in Murray St was as "rough as guts'' and parts of it were falling away.
Mr Dillon said he believed a part of the road was "collapsing'' because of an issue with a waste-water pipe.
Mr Poulsen said he would investigate.
SHAWN.MCAVINUE @thestar.co.nz
