Summary

  • A raised pedestrian crossing in the Matua suburb of Tauranga is being removed and replaced with a flat crossing.
  • According to the Bay of Plenty Times the raised crossing was installed seven months beforehand and has caused problems to neigbouring houses.
  • Local residents complained about vibrations and noise from vehicles going over the raised crossing.
  • The Tauranga City Council is reported to be acknowledging that the raised crossing has caused “unforeseen vibration issues” due to “unique localised ground conditions”.
  • A Tauranga City Council manager is reported as saying that the Council had installed about 200 raised crossings for the previous government’s Road-to-Zero strategy.
  • The cost of removing the raised crossing on Lever Road is reported as being about $80,000 with 51% of the cost covered by NZTA Waka Kotahi.

Quotes

Other Levers Rd residents, who asked not to be named, said large vehicles driving over the raised platform caused significant vibrations in nearby homes.Some likened this to earthquake tremors and one said she had been “constantly worried” about the structural integrity of her home.Another said the gradient height was adjusted three times but failed to fix the shaking. “The worst thing is two of our bedrooms are close to the roadside so we often heard loud bangs when vehicles larger than an SUV drove over the speed bump.“I’d hate to think exactly how much this is all costing us ratepayers.”One resident believed a “simple fresh paint job” would have been sufficient to update the old crossing, and a grandmother said she never had any safety concerns using it with her grandchildren. In her view: “For goodness sake, this is a senseless waste of money.”

Quotes from Tauranga raised pedestrian crossing ripped out after vibration issues, returned to original design, Bay of Plenty Times, 11 October 2024

Article Details

Headline: Tauranga raised pedestrian crossing ripped out after vibration issues, returned to original design

Authored by: Sandra Conchie

Published on: 11 Oct 2024

Published by: Bay of Plenty Times, NZ Herald

Link:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/tauranga-raised-pedestrian-crossing-ripped-out-due-to-vibration-impacts/TCRUK7GPWZHHTJ2AM3QMYYY3B4/

Alternative Links:

https://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/352882-tauranga-raised-pedestrian-crossing-ripped-out.html

Further reading on this issue

What are the disadvantages and negative impacts of “traffic calming”?