East Aucklanders are being asked to back a petition and attend a public meeting to voice their opposition to a plan to install raised safety platforms and pedestrian crossings on Ti Rakau Drive.
Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown is slamming the work which will be carried out by Auckland Transport (AT) as part of the Eastern Busway public transport project.
A recent AT update says as the project will change the road environment of Ti Rakau Drive and increase the number of pedestrians, cyclists, and “vulnerable users”, the priority is making sure everyone is safe.
“To help people cross Ti Rakau Drive to get to the new bus stations, raised safety platforms will be installed to calm the speed of traffic without causing significant delays.
“The platforms will be near [the] Gossamer and Pakuranga Stations, and a raised pedestrian crossing will be installed on Ti Rakau Drive at Edgewater Station.”
AT unveiled a controversial proposal, which was eventually scrapped, last year to install a raised pedestrian crossing on Pakuranga Road.
Brown opposed that crossing and now wants to stop the raised safety platforms and pedestrian crossings from being installed on Ti Rakau Drive.
“This is a crazy idea, to put three speed bumps on what is one of Auckland’s busiest roads,” he says.
“It’s a critical arterial connection and it’s just as crazy as putting one on Pakuranga Road.
“The design of the Eastern Busway has been consulted multiple times with the east Auckland community.
“This was never part of the proposals despite the fact the stations were always going to be in the middle of Ti Rakau Drive.
“Now we have a late-stage change where speed bumps are suddenly part of the proposal.”
Brown says he says he has “significant concerns” about the impact the crossings will have on congestion.
“Particularly for our emergency services, who will now have to go across three sets of speed bumps to get down Ti Rakau Drive.
“It’s completely unacceptable and this could potentially put people’s lives in danger, despite the fact AT is saying it’s for a safety reason in the first place. They need to walk back from this dumb idea.”
Brown has launched a petition for people to sign if they oppose the plan, and he’s holding a public meeting to which he’s invited members of the Eastern Busway project team.
“They’ll be there to present why they believe this is a good idea and to listen to the community,” he says.
“If I didn’t hold this public meeting, they’d be going ahead without engaging with the community on this late-stage design change.
“We stopped them going ahead with the Pakuranga Road speed bump and if we speak up again I’m confident we can stop them going ahead with these ones as well.
“I encourage everyone to sign the petition and turn up to the public meeting and have their say.”
The meeting is at the Howick Pakuranga Community Sports Centre, 73 Bells Road, Pakuranga, at 7pm on Monday, April 3
To sign the petition, go online to https://simeonbrown.national.org.nz/tirakaucrossings.
