Inner-city residents are concerned someone will be injured on Honeysuckle Drive, where two pedestrian crossings are blocked off to the public.
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The Honeysuckle Drive pedestrian crossing between Steel Street and Worth Place has been blocked off for months due to installed lighting not meeting safety standards.
A sign on a temporary barrier blocking the crossing that was in place as recently as last week directed pedestrians to use the traffic lights at Steel Street, however that crossing remains closed as well due to nearby construction.
The sign has now been removed, with people told to instead use pedestrians refuges to cross the busy thoroughfare.
Nearby resident Mary McKone said this had led to people rushing across between cars unsafely.
"It's just dangerous for people," she said. "There's no way to safely get across.
"The pedestrian crossing connects to the light rail.
"A lot of people still use the crossing even though it's blocked off."
The crossing was upgraded as part of an approved consent for Doma's development at 35 Honeysuckle Drive.
Doma said it and council recently engaged an independent electrical engineer to complete a safety audit of the pedestrian crossing to ensure the lighting lux levels met current standards.
"Solar powered lighting at the site was installed initially to enable access to the crossing, however, this form of lighting was assessed as not meeting prescribed safety standards," a City of Newcastle spokesperson said.
"Until the appropriate level of lighting is installed, the crossing will remain closed off to the public to ensure pedestrian safety."
Ms McKone said this was frustrating as she had taken a video in the middle of the night, which showed the crossing appeared to be well-lit.
As the pedestrian crossing is raised, Doma said the engineer requested the installation of two additional smart poles lights to increase the lux levels at night.
Council said "works associated with providing the electrical connection to install the lighting are currently with the developer, with connection to the Ausgrid network planned for February 2023".
"As these lights sit on either side of the road and need to be powered by the same connection, additional works were required to enable the energisation of these lights," Doma said.
"This has created a few small delays to the work being completed.
"We look forward to seeing council complete the remainder of the works in February and welcoming the community to use this crossing."
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