Ararira Springs Primary School assistant caretaker Allan Rolton, 65, supervises the Southfield Dr crossing on Thursdays and Fridays, while fellow caretaker, Steve Currie, covers Monday to Wednesday.
“I’ve got to stand on the road. They don’t stop, they don't slow down,” Rolton said.
Rolton fears motorists using Southfield Dr to avoid the Gerald St roadworks are putting children and parents at risk.
“I’m concerned one of them may get hurt, if not killed.”
The busy crossing sits on a bend, with visibility reduced by trees and parked cars. It is mainly used by children living west and north of the school who do not use the supervised crossing on Russ Dr.
Rolton stops traffic coming from Edward St so pupils can cross safely, but tells them to wait at the traffic island before continuing.
“Once they get to the middle, it becomes another problem. The cars are coming around quite hard, because it’s 50km/h.”
There had been “a couple of close calls within the last month”, he said.
The Selwyn Times witnessed one incident in which a young boy ran onto the road seemingly unaware of approaching traffic.
Rolton urgently stopped him at the traffic island, preventing what could have been a serious accident.
Rolton said he had raised the issue with the Selwyn District Council, but felt little had been done.
“All I want them to do is put school zone and 30km/h signs just to cover this area. That’s all I want.
“You’re looking at two, maybe four signs, and a temporary 30km/h until the work’s done (at Gerald St).”
The council recently installed “Residential access only – no through route” signs at both ends of Southfield Dr’s intersections with Springs Rd and Edward St.
But Rolton described them as “pathetic”.
“I don’t like them because it’s really got nothing to do with the children being down here.”
In an email response to Rolton, council head of operational delivery Gareth Morgan said that while the signs were not a complete solution, early feedback suggested they could “reduce some unnecessary through-traffic”.
He said the council was aware some motorists were using Southfield Dr and nearby streets to avoid congestion elsewhere.
“Traffic patterns can change permanently once people adopt new routes. For that reason, traffic behaviour through Southfield Dr will continue to be monitored, and the situation may need to be revisited once the town centre works and traffic signal changes are fully in place,” Morgan said.
Ararira Springs Primary School principal Claire Howison said a number parents had raised concerns about traffic around the crossing before and after school.
She said the school was aware of two recent near misses with pupils and vehicles.
“Thankfully, nobody was injured” she said.
Howison said she had raised the issue with the council and met with its traffic management team.
“Following those discussions, trees and foliage near the crossing were cut back, and additional school signage and neighbourhood traffic calming signs were proposed” she said.
Rolton said the issue was becoming more urgent with new subdivisions and 12 classrooms currently under construction at the school.
The expansion will add space for 300 more pupils, lifting the school’s capacity to about 850.
“It’s just making it more dangerous,” he said.
