Regular walkers have long lamented how difficult it is to cross the six lanes of traffic on Kent and Cambridge Terraces, but thanks to a recent upgrade arranged by Mayor Kerry Prendergast, the process just got easier at the Vivian Street corner.

Residents will remember that local woman Amy Edward-Mintorn was run down by boy racers on this corner a few years ago as she attempted to cross at night. One of the difficulties - and the cause of much jay-walking - is that pressing the pedestrian button on Cambridge Terrace would not activate the lights on Kent Terrace, and vice versa. Law-abiding walkers were then forced to wait through multiple phases of the lights in order to cross safely, and many simply took their chances in traffic - with tragic consequences in Amy's case.

After many months of negotiation with the NZ Transport Agency, followed by hardware and software upgrades to the traffic lights, Council officers have now upgraded the lights so that both roads can safely be crossed with a single button push. In addition, some phasing changes have been made to allow longer pedestrian crossing times.

These are worthwhile improvements, and officers are to be commended for persevering over many months to get the upgraded system installed. And according to Soon Teck Kong from the Council's Infrastructure Directorate, the same upgrades will be progressively applied to all the Kent/Cambridge intersections, improving access and amenity for the whole of Mt Victoria.