Research

So I started my research with the Cuba St/Abel Smith St intersection and found a couple of interesting blog type articles that respond to the issue.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/motoring/83746463/Explainer-Whats-the-big-problem-at-Wellingtons-most-puzzling-intersection
This covered off what the actual rules are at the intersection, and some of the opinions of locals as to why they think different solutions aren't good ideas. When this was written at $200,000 installation of lights at this intersection was in the pipeworks but has since been tossed out.

http://eyeofthefish.org/four-way-stop/
This was a very strong opinion piece that trashed the idea of putting lights in at the intersection, but also recognised that for pedestrians the intersection is so unsafe because drivers not only don't know the rules but also don't abide by them (STOP signs are often ignored and treated as "rolling stops".

From here I wanted to look into all the rules, and the thing is is that there are a couple of different ways people rule the intersection. This video exemplified a first in first served rule:

But NZTA don't acknowledge this scenario as a special case and simply apply the standard give way rules. I.e:

• Give way to your right.
• And, if you are turning, give way to all traffic that is not turning.

With this research behind me, I then moved onto looking at existing practical solutions, as well as design interventions at intersections and found the following:

https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/walkable-cities-intersection-design-for-pedestrians
Was a great article that discussed ways to prioritise pedestrian safety at intersections. The two I really found interesting were the raised crossings and the protected intersections and wonder if there could be a way to use these in conjunction with spatial typography to provide a realistic as well as impressive solution.

Then on the more artistic side of things there were two New Zealand projects which caught my eye:

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/3-d-crossings-help-keep-students-safe

Was a super cool idea from Otago in which they painted 3D crossings in student areas to begin with that gave perspective to drivers - but looked like normal crossings to pedestrians to help keep students safe in the high student population areas. With the intention that if they were successful the idea could be spread to other parts of Dunedin.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/75881343/painting-project-to-turn-riccarton-intersection-from-bland-to-beautiful

And this was in Riccarton and wasn't exactly designed for safety as such. It was a community art project that also had an element of making streets safer involved by the nature of where the work was. The idea came from Portland, Oregon, and is hoped to slow drivers down by creating a sense of calm and a reminder of humanity on the road.