Roads and traffic take a hit

Satisfaction with the condition of Dunedin's roads and flow of traffic at peak times has plummeted in the past year, the latest Dunedin City Council residents' opinion survey shows.

While 70% of residents were generally satisfied with the council's facilities, infrastructure and services, satisfaction with the conditions of roads has dropped 10 percentage points to 39% since the 2017 survey, and satisfaction with the flow of peak traffic has dropped 8 percentage points to 38%.

Satisfaction with the condition of footpaths has also dropped by 7 points to 44%.

Chief executive Sue Bidrose said the survey was designed to let council staff know the areas where residents would like to see improvements.

''We have worked hard to step up our repairs and maintenance programme in response to resident feedback, so I suspect these results reflect the amount of work we and some of our partner organisations have been doing on the transport network over the past 12 months.

''Roadworks can be frustrating for all types of road users while they're in progress, but in the long run they will improve the way people can get around the city,'' Dr Bidrose said.

Aside from the roading, resident satisfaction remained relatively consistent over the past 12 months.

Overall satisfaction with the council is at 57% (down 1 point on last year), but since 2010 it has increased 22 percentage points - a trend seen reflected in many areas.

More than half of Dunedin residents continue to be satisfied or very satisfied the council delivers overall value for money (52%), and 47% are satisfied with the performance of the mayor and councillors (up 4 points).

Residents also continue to highly rate Dunedin's cultural facilities, including the Dunedin Botanic Garden (95%), Otago Museum (95%), Toitu Otago Settlers Museum (94%), the Regent Theatre (90%), and Forsyth Barr Stadium (90%).

Forsyth Barr Stadium's rating has consistently trended upwards in recent years and is well up on its 69% rating in 2012.

Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull said the continued high ratings for cultural facilities highlighted the value Dunedin residents received for their rates.

''The stadium hosted some massive events over the past 12 months and Dunedin is fast becoming a favourite destination for promoters to bring big-name concerts, so it's no surprise to see the stadium's rating now reach 90%.

''Dunedin's other cultural facilities all consistently rate very well in this survey and are the envy of much larger cities,'' he said.

Of the 4800 residents randomly selected from the electoral roll to complete the survey, 1356 did so - a response rate of 28%.

john.lewis@odt.co.nz

Comments

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I took part in this survey. I find it interesting that 72% didn't bother to take part. Maybe because we feel our councilors never listen anyhow. The survey itself, like many surveys was worded in such a way so that the answers could be used for self promotion. They made it easy to criticize the road network yet very difficult to criticize facilities. Basically they only aked the questions for the answers they wanted to hear. Just more ratepayers money being spent on what basically amounts to self promotion and electioneering. I suggest the ODT do their own survey on the streets of Dunedin after the new rate rises have been issued.

If DCC have set out to make Dunedin a city that is anti-car then they have made a good job of it. All the recent changes have been a shambles; the traffic light timings in particular seem to run on teacakes. It is time for the council to get real. There will be no reduction in car numbers, simply a switch to different fuels so we will continue to need roads and parking. If you want to destroy Dunedin keep going down the path you are following.

Agree Do any councillors or Mayor take a DCC Car home as a perk? Lets see all such cars banned and all carparks for them removed,

What are you talking about - you make no sense at all. Have you been drinking again?

The roads, cycle lanes, and traffic light layouts in Dunedin are an utter shambles.
Nowhere else in the world do they try and combine vehicles with cycles, the obvious choice is to combine cycles and pedestrians.
Micromanagement of traffic with ever more complex phase changes does not improve safety or efficiency. The less controls an intersection has the safer and more efficient it is. And Barnes crossings are not what people say they are (safer and quicker) they are in fact the total opposite. Civil engineers are total rubbish at conducting and critiquing research in their own field. Expert consensus suggests that the only effective use of Barnes crossings is to make a civil statement that an area is pedestrian friendly. Nobody on the DCC would agree with this and they will stick with cherry picking flawed studies for support.
On a single journey down George St pedestrians were crossing against their lights on every single intersection. In one case I actually stopped on a green light and did a double take as there were so many pedestrians on the road for a minute I thought the red light was mine and the green theirs.

I can't get my head round the combination of changes that are going on - the net effect of which are turning the CBD into a shambles for traffic. The bus hub, cycle lanes, Barnes dances, extra lights going in (on Cumberland St in two places - near the northern BP and outside Toitu), the loss of carparks and the completely bungled light phases on the one-way systems now mean that driving and parking in the CBD is a disaster. Why?? There doesn't seem to have been much co-ordination with NZTA or the ORC, who have got their own way with their pet projects. It's as if the DCC (and other agencies) can't stop fiddling with the roads - and now George St has slowed to a crawl thanks to the light phases being meddled with there too. Meanwhile, road maintenance elsewhere is dire - look at the state of Three Mile Hill - or pick any road you regularly use. I've been driving over the same potholes and dips and worn tarmac and badly sealed channels for fibre etc for ages on my usual routes and no sign of any improvements. Motorists are angry and rightly so. It's a total mess and seems to be getting worse. Normal road maintenance has suffered and it's not good enough.

Was driving South through the main Street last Thursday ,tried to turn right into Hanover street ,sat and waited for four sets of lights as there are no turning arrows in the new fancy Barnes dance lights ,gave up trying to go to Kmart parking building ,their loss of my business ,ended up turning left with ease leaving the long queue behind me to endure my same experience . Now considering where I will shop in the future

Open up the main road's in and out of Dunedin (State Highway One). That is where the congestion is.
With the addition of the bicycle lane, traffic has to slow right down to allow vehicles to park.
There is room for three lanes and a bicycle lane. All the council need to do is remove all the parking on the state highway.

Get this done before the new hospital build starts!

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