Worries about safety project prompt review

Roadworks planned for the Devonport town centre may in part be reconsidered due to concerns that the safety project is ‘over-engineered’ in its provision of raised pedestrian crossings.

Auckland Transport (AT) staff told Devonport-Takapuna Local Board members last week that it would consider calls to hold off on the final section of work on Victoria Rd in the centre of the village.

The Devonport safe speeds project has a total budget of $3.3 million, which includes consutation design and construction.

Since the Flagstaff published the timeline for the staged Safe Speeds project (24 March issue), community concern has grown over the disruption it will cause through winter.

“The middle part is the real contentious part,” Devonport Business Association (DBA) chair Dianne Hale told the Flagstaff.

Board members questioned AT about this section of the work, especially the need for a raised crossing outside The Patriot.

Member Gavin Busch said enough was being done, with a 30km/h speed zone already in place through the town centre and other traffic-calming measures planned for the northern end of the main street and side roads off it.

The effectiveness of these measures should be reviewed before digging up and closing the middle of Victoria Rd, he said.

Deputy chair Terence Harpur agreed, saying he was also concerned that a raised crossing in the hospitality zone would cause noise and vibrations to those dining and drinking outdoors. “I’m worrying that we are over-engineering this.”

AT project manager Sunny Ha said the tricky middle zone of the project – which will likely see buses diverted off Victoria Rd down Fleet St, along Bartley Tce in front of the supermarket and up Clarence St for a short time – had deliberately been scheduled last.

AT agreed to consider looking again at what was being done in the middle section of Victoria Rd.

But Ha pointed out that any delay that pushed part of the project into another financial year could jeopardise its half-funding by government transport agency Waka Kotahi.

Board chair Toni van Tonder complimented AT on its collaborative approach. She acknowledged the fears held by some in the business community, but said the project was “investment in the Devonport town centre”.

What was primarily a safety project, had the side benefit: tidying up footpaths and drainage.

The DBA and van Tonder previously convinced AT to reduce the length of time it initially proposed to spend on the work, after learning this could be up to 10 months.

A deal was struck to do more concrete preparation off-site and work six days a week from May, to pull the project back to four or five months, done in sections. Feedback from community consultation last year led to AT abandoning plans to do away with the right-turn lane from Victoria Rd into Calliope Rd.

Hale said with public attention on Calliope Rd, it seemed people had until now overlooked some of the plans lower down in the town centre.

Van Tonder said that despite AT setting up a steering group in mid-2021, with representatives of the DBA, Devonport Peninsula Trust, Bike Auckland and the previous local board, and running community consultation drop-in sessions, it was disappointing the project was still news to so many people.

This raised questions about the flow of information out of the steering group. “That hasn’t happened in some cases.”

She encouraged AT to keep liaising with the DBA, saying: “It’s taken a long time to get here, but we’re not quite there yet.”

Hospo owner sounds alarm Plans for a winter of disruption

Alastair Davidson fears Devonport faces a taste of the trauma that businesses in Hurstmere Rd, Takapuna, have experienced during recent roading-improvement projects.

With hospitality businesses in both town centres, the owner of Signal Hill bar and restaurant, and the Takapuna Bar, says the economic impact of projects needs more questioning.

“Is the outcome going to outweigh the activity, and the answer is no,” he said of Auckland Transport (AT) plans for a raised crossing in the middle of Victoria Rd.

“None of the shops on main street will benefit.”

Takapuna businesses had endured extended roadworks on Hurstmere Rd, but were still suffering from a lack of parking along the main strip, which deterred customers, he said.

Devonport would face similar issues in the months ahead. A foretaste had been given recently when a line of trucks doing paving repairs occupied spaces.

“People will cease to come to Devonport unless they have to,” Davidson said.

He predicted locals would bypass a disrupted Victoria Rd to just head to the supermarket.

Davidson agreed winter was the best time for any roadworks to be undertaken, but worried wet weather may extend timeframes at the same time as the economy seemed to be headed into a recession. He also questioned why raised crossings are needed in the middle of a slow-speed zone.

“You’re just doing it for no reason,” he said. A better idea would be to repair uneven footpaths, which were also a safety factor.

The effectiveness of the 30km/h speed limit should also be reviewed by AT after six months to see if crossing humps were even needed.

Davidson said public confidence in AT locally had been dented by its unpopular chip-sealing programme on suburban streets and by the speed hump installed on Bayswater Ave, around which water pooled during heavy rain, flowing onto driveways.

Block by block... Auckland Transport’s schedule of closures on and near Victoria Rd during the installation of safety features, including raised crossings. The work involves: (from top red box down) a crossing upgrade; a raised crossing; two raised crossings; crossing upgrade; crossing upgrade, bus-stop upgrade plus new crossing; new raised crossing; and three crossing upgrades.