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Eldon Road, Mount Eden - Pedestrian safety improvements Eldon Road, Mount Eden - Pedestrian safety improvements

Proposal status: Feedback closed 9 July 2021

Reference number: SSP2021-009B

Proposal outcome

In April 2021 we proposed changes to improve pedestrian safety on Eldon Road, particularly for children walking to school. The public feedback we received was valuable to us and has helped us to design a more suitable plan that increases pedestrian safety, whilst addressing the community’s concerns around loss of parking and high traffic speeds in the area. In June 2021, we reconsulted with the public on our updated design. After reviewing all the feedback we received, we are proceeding with the work as proposed These works will help support our Vision Zero goal.   

We proposed to: 

  • Upgrade the existing school-patrolled crossing outside no.33 Eldon Road to a raised zebra crossing. The upgraded crossing will be raised to be flush with the footpath.  
  • Install two speed bumps, one outside no.4 Eldon Road and the other at the entrance of Dunbar Road, coming off Eldon Road. Streetlights will also be installed to ensure visibility of the speed bumps during low lit hours.  
  • Upgrade the traffic light phasing at the intersection of Pine Street, Balmoral Road and Eldon Road to a Barnes dance phasing. This means that when crossing, pedestrians can cross in all directions, including diagonally, at the same time. Road markings will be painted to inform pedestrians that they can cross diagonally.  
  • To support the intersection improvements the kerb ramps, which allow people move from the footpath to the street level, at Pine Street, Eldon Road and Balmoral Road intersection will include widened footpaths and tactile pavers.  
  • The southern footpath along Eldon Road between Balmoral Road and Dunbar Road will be widened by 1.8m, which will require tree trimming outside no.227 Eldon Road.  
  • Paint broken yellow lines (no stopping at all times) on Eldon Road and at the intersection of Eldon Road and Dunbar Road. This will remove a total of 7 parking spaces. In response to community feedback we have managed to retain one parking space outside of 227 Eldon Road.  
  • Install signage and paint road markings to alert road users to the upgraded crossing and speed bumps 

This proposal is supported by the Auckland regional fuel tax and is part of the Safe Schools Programme.

What happens next  


We anticipate the changes will be constructed in 2021/22 financial year. We will be in touch with local residents and business prior to any construction taking place. 

Community feedback 

Thank you for helping us make better decisions for your neighbourhood, informed by your local knowledge. The majority of respondents were supportive of this proposal. A summary of the additional comments and queries we received, and our responses to them, is below. 

Parking  

  • Suggestion to use timed “no parking” restrictions, Mon-Fri, as opposed to broken yellow lines. We have chosen to use broken yellow lines here because we need to prevent vehicles from parking near any of the crossing points to ensure that pedestrians are clearly visible for drivers when approaching the crossing. Timed, “no parking” restriction signs would not have a similar effect and would not ensure that pedestrian safety is being prioritised within the proposal.  
  • Suggestion that the issue is bad parking behaviour during school pick up hours, not residents parking. We will pass your concerns onto our Community Transport Team to investigate further and work with the school to educate parents to practise better driving behaviour. 

Parking removal 

  • Concern over parking removal on Dunbar Road, as parking demand on the road is already high due to one side of the street being no parking. This issue is exacerbated during events at Balmoral School, Mount Eden Memorial Hall and Potters Park. 
  • Concern that removing parking spaces at no.4 Eldon Road is unfair on the local residents who require on-street parking. 
  • Concern that during the week on-street parking spaces at no.4 are not used, and therefore should not be removed. 
  • Concern that too many on-street parking spaces are being removed outside of no.4 Eldon Road and that it is unnecessary to remove that many. The community feedback that we received when we first consulted with the public noted that too many parking spaces were being removed within the proposal. During re-design we took this into consideration and made some adjustments to the original design by reducing the total number of bays we were removing. We managed to save a number of parking spaces along both Dunbar Road and Eldon Road, whilst maintaining sufficient visibility requirements for pedestrians when crossing the road. Our main priority is to provide safer crossing facilities for all pedestrians including school children, and this means that a certain number of on-street parking spaces have to be removed to ensure that pedestrians are clearly visible for drivers when approaching the crossing. We understand removing parking can be inconvenient, so we have minimised the removal of parking as much as possible.  

Network 

  • Concern that the crossing on Eldon Road does not need to be raised as it is already patrolled by the school and is never used outside of school pick up and drop off hours. Auckland Transport have received complaints regarding high driving speeds along Eldon Road, and therefore the proposal aims is to improve the safety of all pedestrians using this crossing, not just that of school children. 
  • Suggestion to convert the current pedestrian island crossing to a zebra crossing. A zebra crossing outside of Balmoral School would require the school to also monitor this crossing during school pick up and drop off times. As there are already two zebra crossings that are being monitored by the school, an additional one would be too much for the school manage. 
  • Concern that Eldon Road does not need two raised zebra crossings. Many of the pupils attending Balmoral School walk to and from school. The main aim of this proposal is to improve the safety of pedestrians, particularly school children, travelling in the area. The additional crossing will cater to the large volume of school children crossing at these locations and increase their safety in making these journeys. 

Speed bump 

  • Suggestion that the speed bump on Dunbar Road is not needed due to an existing dip in the road that ensures drivers slow down. Auckland Transport have received numerous complaints regarding people taking short cuts (rat-running) and driving at high speeds along Dunbar Road. The additional speed bump will reduce drivers’ speeds, improving the safety of road users and pedestrians, especially school children, crossing Dunbar Road.  
  • Suggestion to install a second speed bump on Dunbar Road to slow traffic speeds further, as drivers use Dunbar as a short cut (rat run). Within this proposal a speed count was not conducted along Dunbar Road, meaning that we cannot proceed with installing a speed bump unless a proper investigation has been completed. We are installing a speed bump near the intersection of Eldon Road and Dunbar Road to prevent vehicles from approaching this intersection at a high speed, as Eldon Road is a main route for school children walking to and from Balmoral School. We will consider installing another speed bump on Dunbar road for future projects and will continue to monitor the operation of vehicles along Dunbar Road.  
  • Concern that a speed bump close to the intersection will be difficult for drivers to manoeuvre. The speed bump is being installed at a safe distance away from the intersection, and we do not foresee any issues with vehicles manoeuvring in and out of the road. Auckland Transport have not currently reported any issues of vehicles having difficulty travelling over speed bumps.  
  • Query whether Auckland Transport are willing to compensate drivers for vehicle suspension issues caused by speed bumps and raised crossings. Speed bumps and raised crossings are not found to cause damage to vehicles when travelled over at an appropriate speed. Therefore, the proposed speed bumps will not damage vehicles, providing that vehicles travel over the speed bumps at a suitable speed.  
  • Concern that there are too many speed bumps and raised crossings in the Mount Eden area and that this proposal is over-kill. This proposal is in response to requests for pedestrian safety in the area to be improved. Auckland Transport believe that the proposal will benefit the local community by providing safer places for pedestrians to cross the road, increasing safe walking access to community facilities. In addition, the project will increase the safety of children walking to and from school, which has been highlighted by respondents in feedback received as a significant benefit of the proposal.  

Traffic light phasing  

  • Resident queries the need for the Barnes dance phasing to be installed at the traffic lights. Resident asks how many pedestrians need to cross diagonally? Auckland Transport received a request to install a Barnes dance crossing phase at Eldon Road and Balmoral Road intersection. The Barnes dance phasing on the traffic lights will provide a safer crossing facility and a shorted crossing time for pedestrians and school children accessing Balmoral School.  
  • Concern that the issue of traffic congestion on Balmoral Road is going to be exacerbated by the phasing, as congestion for drivers wanting to turn onto Eldon Road is already bad. The impact of changing the traffic light phasing has been assessed and it will have minimal impact on the surrounding road network. Auckland Transport will be proceeding with installing the Barnes dance phase in this proposal and we will continue to monitor its operation for efficiency.  
  • Request for the traffic light phasing to also allow extra time for drivers on Eldon Road to exit, as currently it is difficult for just one car to turn left onto Balmoral after pedestrians have crossed. The additional Barnes dance phase was assessed and will have a minimal impact on the operation of Eldon Road and Balmoral Road intersection. We will continue to monitor the operation of the intersection once this has been constructed.  
  • Concern that the Barnes dance phasing is not necessary as the crossing is rarely utilised other than during school pick up. Installing the Barnes dance phasing will provide a safer crossing facility for all pedestrians using the route, especially for school children walking to and from school. The request for crossing improvements came from concerned residents who use this route and we believe that the proposal will benefit the whole local community. 

W​e're proposing improvements in your area

In April 2021, we consulted with residents and businesses about a proposal to improve pedestrian safety on Eldon Road, particularly for students walking to school. The public feedback we received was valuable to us and has helped us to design a more suitable plan that increases pedestrian safety, whilst addressing the community’s concerns around loss of parking and high traffic speeds in the area.

We are proposing to:

  • Upgrade the existing school-patrolled crossing outside no.33 Eldon Road to a raised zebra crossing. The upgraded crossing will be raised to be flush with the footpath.
  • Install two speed bumps, one outside no. 4 Eldon Road and the other at the entrance of Dunbar Road, coming off Eldon Road. Streetlights will also be installed to ensure visibility of the speed bumps during low lit hours.
  • Upgrade the traffic light phasing at the intersection of Pine Street, Balmoral Road and Eldon Road to a Barnes dance phasing. This means that when crossing, pedestrians can cross in all directions, including diagonally, at the same time. Road markings will be painted to inform pedestrians that they can cross diagonally.
  • To support the intersection improvements the kerb ramps, which allow people move from the footpath to the street level, at Pine Street, Eldon Road and Balmoral Road intersection will include widened footpaths and tactile pavers.
  • The southern footpath along Eldon Road between Balmoral Road and Dunbar Road will be widened by 1.8m, which will require tree trimming outside no.227 Eldon Road.
  • Paint broken yellow lines (no stopping at all times) on Eldon Road and at the intersection of Eldon Road and Dunbar Road. This will remove a total of 7 parking spaces. In response to community feedback we have managed to retain one parking space outside of 227 Eldon Road.
  • Install signage and paint road markings to alert road users to the upgraded crossing and speed bumps.

Download the proposal drawing for Eldon Road -1 (PDF 3.20MB).

Download the proposal drawing for Eldon Road -2 (PDF 2MB).

Auckland Transport would like to work with you to deliver safer roads in your neighbourhood. This proposal is in response to a request from Balmoral School to improve the safety of school children along Eldon Road. After considering this request and public feedback on our first proposal, we are now reaching out to the community again with an updated plan. These changes will improve pedestrian safety in Mount Eden by slowing down traffic speeds. By upgrading existing crossing facilities, we would be providing safer places for pedestrians to cross the road.

Give your feedback for Eldon Road, Mount Eden

If you would like to post in your feedback, download and print our feedback form template, fill in your details and send it freepost using the address details on the form.

What happens next

  • We’ll consider all the feedback we receive, and then decide the best way to move forward.
  • We’ll post the outcome of this proposal and a summary of community feedback on this webpage.
  • We can email you the proposal outcome as soon as it’s ready – just select that option when you fill in the survey.

More information

  • This proposal is supported by the Auckland regional fuel tax and is part of the Safe Schools Programme.

Mount Eden: Safe with us

Auckland Transport cares for your safety. We want to make our roads safe for everyone, people walking and cycling, especially for our kids and senior citizens and people driving. Projects like this one around Eldon Road are another step towards our goal of achieving no deaths or serious injuries on our roads. We are guided by the Vision Zero approach to transport safety, which prioritises human safety over other measures (like minor time saving).