Residents outraged over AT's proposed raised crossing on busy highway

Auckland Transport's (AT) proposal for a raised crossing along a busy East Auckland highway has drawn contempt from the community but AT says it wants to prevent “needless” deaths.

Pakuranga Road, also known as Pakuranga Highway is a 6km stretch of road with three lanes in each direction.

The most up-to-date count from AT shows over 38,000 vehicles use the road on any given weekday but it has gone up to over 40,000, AT told 1News.

AT is proposing to to install a raised crossing (speed bump) with traffic signals at 176 Pakuranga Road. It’s also planning a new pedestrian island crossing on Grammar School Road, upgrades to pavers and yellow lines as well as moving several bus stops.

Andrew Allen, AT’s executive general manager of service delivery says while there are already 11 traffic light crossings on the stretch of road, “it’s important we are putting in place safety measures for pedestrians, where we know they cross the road in large numbers - rather than relying on them to walk more than 600 metres to cross at an existing crossing”.

Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown has called the proposal “crazy,”and locals 1News spoke to shared his sentiment.

“The reality is we are just going to add significant congestion to a road that already carries tens of thousands of vehicles a day. There’s already a crossing 300 metres from where they want to put this speed bump crossing, it’s just unbelievably crazy,” Brown said.

He said the money would be better spent on fixing potholes around the country.

“That’s what motorists would far rather,” he said.

Brown said putting a speed bump on Pakuranga Road is “effectively like putting a speed bump on a motorway”.

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About 150 people attended a public meeting hosted by Brown and three representatives from AT (including Allen) on Monday night.

The impassioned and at times angry crowd shared their views in a question and answer time spanning over an hour.

Allen and his team provided some background over why changes are being proposed to Pakuranga Road.

Allen described 2017 as the worst year for deaths and serious injuries on New Zealand roads (he said over 800 people died or were seriously injured that year), which led to an independent review in 2018 to improve road safety.

The Road to Zero strategy was hence developed to span a decade in order to improve road safety.

However despite this, the audience were unconvinced the measures proposed by AT over Pakuranga Road were necessary. Among those who spoke was a bus driver, a truck driver and a mother, all describing their own reasons a raised crossing didn't have merit. Another also questioned how increasing vehicle emissions due to stalled traffic, would line up with the Government's climate change goals.

There were in the end, more questions than answers and the AT panel acknowledged the concern and frustration of the audience.

Allen said the proposal was still very much in the draft phase and modifications, if any, were still to be considered.

Allen told 1News it’s only a matter of time “before there’s a horrific crash in the area involving a pedestrian, who would be likely to be seriously injured or killed”.

“With three traffic lanes in each direction, this section of Pakuranga Road is a high-risk area for pedestrian safety. There have been 12 recorded crashes between 2016 and 2020 near the Pakuranga-Johns Lane-Grammar School intersection, with two serious injury crashes - one involving a pedestrian. Of the 12 crashes, seven were loss-of-control or speed-related crashes.

"With so many students in this area, AT must do everything possible to keep these vulnerable road users safe. We would much rather prevent a needless death, than witness a student getting knocked down at speed like a bowling pin."

He said the proposed area is a section of Pakuranga Road where lots of people need to cross each day.

“Nearby bus stops are used by 200 passengers per day, and we also need to consider the number of students crossing with Saint Kentigern’s College in the neighbourhood.

“The closest other crossings are currently approximately 300m and 500m away. We know that when crossings are that far away, people don’t generally walk further down the road – they cross where they want to cross.”

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Allen said the proposal to construct a raised crossing with pedestrian-triggered traffic lights generated a lot of feedback – during the four-week consultation AT heard from 1256 people, with 90% of them opposing the plan.

"We heard their concerns, and the frustrations they shared about the effects of congestion on their daily lives. And we heard the questions being raised about why we need a crossing in this location, and why we would propose a raised crossing on such an important road.

"While no decision has yet been made, our challenge from here is to weigh up that community feedback and consider it against our unshakeable commitment to keeping Aucklanders safe and the robust evidence about safety risks provided by our expert engineers and road safety specialists."

Lowering the 60km/h speed limit to 50km/h has also been proposed under phase three of the safe speeds programme.

Allen said this proposal ties into AT’s wider Vision Zero safety strategy to reduce death and serious injuries on New Zealand roads.