Street talk a blow for business

The negative reputation of the Hill Street intersection in Warkworth is impacting on the local economy, according to One Warkworth Business Association manager Murray Chapman.

He wants people to stop talking about the congestion at the intersection because it is deterring visitors.

“There is a lot of talk about how it’s the worst intersection in the country and that’s going to stop people from wanting to visit Warkworth and Matakana,” Mr Chapman says.

He agrees that the intersection is an issue, and praises the work of Fix Hill Street Now.

“There’s no doubt it’s a problem that needs to be fixed, but we’re moving forward with it now and I don’t think any more progress is being achieved by continuing to promote how bad it is.

“It’s not just the business owners who will be impacted by it either, it’s all of the staff who could lose hours.”

One business owner to feel an impact already is Liz Bays, from Warkworth Lodge.

“My Friday bookings are down this summer and I think that it’s because people don’t want to drive up that night knowing how bad it will be,” Liz says.

Matakana Coast Tourism chair Penny Webster is also concerned about how the intersection is promoted.

“I’ve had a number of businesses tell me they’ve had a quieter than usual season so far and I think that’s due to people being put off travelling through Hill Street,” Mrs Webster says.

“It would be good to stop talking about the intersection and just implement some interim changes until we see some real action on it.”

One change Mrs Webster proposes is an extension of the green light sequence for people turning onto State Highway 1 and going through to Hill Street from Matakana Road.

“We trialled this recently and it definitely relieved some of the traffic problem.”

Fix Hill Street Now founding member Mike Francis believes that reminding people of how busy the intersection is will improve their experience in Warkworth.

“If people know that it gets busy they can work their schedule around that and avoid traffic, giving them a better time,” Mike says.

“I don’t think the number of visitors shopping locally is going down and people will continue to follow the sun here.”

Mike said the Fix Hill Street billboards that criticised the intersection would not be reinstated, as that part of the campaign was over.