Recently a couple of traffic counting cables have appeared on Waikawa Beach Road just outside the blueberry farm. I asked Horowhenua District Council what the count was for:
Request Number: 222919/2023
Description of Request: in the last couple of weeks a pair of traffic counter cables has been laid across Waikawa Beach Road not far from State Highway 1. I'd like to share with the community the purpose behind this counting. What is the purpose of the cables? Will the counts be used in any particular policy or activity? Is there a particular reason they have been laid? Is there any particular reasoning behind their placement along Waikawa Beach Road?
I quickly received a response from Roading Operations:
This is to gather traffic count information which we are required to do on all our Council roads. The location of the count is because the last one in this location was in 2007 so the data requires updating.
I then asked if this data was being gathered to inform any actions or policies connected with the difficulties of turning south out of Waikawa Beach Road. The response:
Not aware of this rumour. Traffic counts which have been completed are available upon request by the public. If you would like to know the counts, once we have the data back we are happy to provide this to you.
I’ve asked to receive the count, and comparisons with the 2007 data, once available.
Update, 20 April 2023:
The 2007 ADT (Daily traffic) was 831. The latest count is 951 ADT so slight increase, not as much as expected as the counts were also out for a week of school holidays.
