A plan to install raised pedestrian platforms on a busy east Auckland road sparked heated opposition at a public meeting held to discuss the subject.
Auckland Transport (AT) intends to construct raised safety platforms and a raised pedestrian crossing on Ti Rakau Drive in Pakuranga as part of the Eastern Busway public transport project.
AT says the platforms will help people get to new bus stations safely and calm traffic speed without causing significant delays.
Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown has labelled the plan a “crazy idea” and launched a petition opposing it.
He recently hosted a public meeting on the issue with a group of officials from the Eastern Busway Alliance and AT which drew an audience of several hundred to the Howick Pakuranga Community Sports Centre.
The officials ran through a presentation providing an update on the busway’s progress.
They emphasised statistics showing that the faster a vehicle is travelling the higher the chance a pedestrian it strikes will die from their injuries.
One slide said a pedestrian struck by a vehicle travelling at 30kmh has a 10 per cent chance of dying, compared to a 30 per cent chance if the vehicle is doing 40kmh and 80 per cent if it’s doing 50kmh.
AT executive general manager safety Stacey van der Putten said the raised crossings were 75mm high and each would add eight seconds to a vehicle’s travel time when traffic is flowing freely.
Modelling forecast there would be about 18,000 pedestrians crossing the relevant stretch of Ti Rakau Drive to use the busway each day, she said.
“This [the raised platforms] is not just for pedestrians.
“Drivers will want to be aware they’re entering an environment where there’s high pedestrian activity.
“That gives you the visual reminder you’re entering in a space where you should expect people.”
Van der Putten said the raised crossings would also improve accessibility for pedestrians.
“When you raise up it also helps people when they’re getting on and off the busway in terms of pedestrians accessing the side of the road.
“It makes it better for people when they’re using pushchairs, when they’re not able-bodied, in terms of accessing it to make sure it’s smooth running for everybody.”
Eastern Busway Alliance design team lead Dean Coutts spoke about why raised platforms were part of the design.
He said three people had died in crashes on Ti Rakau Drive between 2015 and 2019 and 28 others had suffered serious injuries.
“In that period, that’s in excess of 30 families who have been significantly impacted because of lower safety levels along this corridor.
“So translating that if we want to think over a design life of 50 years, which is comparatively short for a project like this, if you calculate that out, potentially … in excess of 100 serious injuries over that time.
“That’s if the corridor stays as it was right now, without the additional 18,000 people accessing the busway every day.”
Audience members asked questions including whether the raised crossings would impact the emergency services, if they’d worsen emissions and pollution, whether they’d slow freight transport down, and how much they’d cost to install.
Coutts estimated they’d cost about $100,000 each, which he said was “insignificant” relative to the entire project.
Brown asked if a final decision on the plan had been made, and if so, what the timeframe for the installation of the raised crossings was.
“I echo much of the room in objecting to these designs, because the reality is people in east Auckland drive because that’s how we go to work,” he said.
“We work all over the city. The efficiency of our roading network is critically important to our community and that’s the point I continue to reflect.”
The officials said they’d take feedback from the audience on board and come back at a later date.
They said the busway is expected to be completed by 2027.
