Stakeholders: Auckland Transport, local Henderson business
Location: Te Pai Place, Henderson, Auckland
Configuration: 9m x 8m Raised Zebra Crossing
Installation: 12 hours (over 2 nights)
Challenge
A local Henderson business on Te Pai Place had growing concerns about staff needing to cross a busy road between their workplace and staff car park.
With more than 10,000 vehicles travelling along the road each day, staff didn’t always feel comfortable crossing such a busy stretch of road. The business began looking into ways to create a safer, more clearly defined crossing point for their team.
The local roading authority, Auckland Transport, suggested a raised zebra crossing as a strong option to improve safety, but traditional concrete construction came with some additional challenges. On a busy road, projects like this can take weeks to complete and often involve significant disruption to the road network and high traffic management costs.
The question became: how could the same safety outcome be achieved in a faster, more practical way?
Understanding
Working alongside the project team and Auckland Transport, Vanguard took the time to understand what the site needed and what a successful outcome would look like.
The goal was to implement a solution that would improve safety for staff while keeping disruption to a minimum and avoiding the long construction and curing times often associated with traditional raised platforms.
At the time, Vanguard had already been working with Auckland Transport on developing a modular rubber raised safety platform system, designed to speed up installation without compromising on safety or compliance. This project became an opportunity to apply that thinking to a real-world site.
After reviewing the plans and discussing the site requirements with designers, Vanguard developed a concept that would meet the required standards while working for the practical realities of the location.
CAD drawings, plan views and 3D renders were used to help visualise how the finished crossing would look and function before work began.
Solution
Vanguard proposed a modular rubber raised safety platform system that could be installed much faster and with far less disruption.
To make the crossing work seamlessly with the surrounding area, the platform was carefully designed to tie into the existing footpath and create a smooth, level crossing point for pedestrians.
Because the project also needed to meet Auckland Transport requirements, Vanguard developed new compliant ramp markings specifically for the design to ensure the finished result aligned with the required standards.
Once approved, the full system was delivered to the contractor within two days and installation was completed over two night shifts. By working at night, disruption to road users was kept to a minimum and the road was able to reopen immediately once work was complete.
Outcome
The finished crossing provided staff with a clearly designated and safer place to cross a busy road each day which directly addressed the concerns that had prompted the project in the first place.
By using a modular rubber system, the raised platform reduced install time from two weeks to two nights. That meant less disruption to the surrounding road network, reduced traffic management requirements, and a more efficient project overall all while delivering the same safety outcome.
But most importantly, the business gained confidence knowing their team had a safer way to move between their workplace and car park every day.
If you’re facing similar challenges, feel free to get in touch for a discussion about how modular rubber road safety solutions could reduce your project cost and timeframes.
