Bucklands Beach Road, Bucklands Beach - New roundabout Bucklands Beach Road, Bucklands Beach - New roundabout

Proposal status: Feedback closed 25 October 2019, updated 27 November 2019

Reference number: RSU1920-102

We’ve proposed changes in your area

In October 2019, we proposed a new roundabout on Bucklands Beach Road, Bucklands Beach.

At the Sunderlands Road/Bucklands Beach Road intersection, we proposed:

installing a new roundabout at the existing 'Stop' controlled intersection to prevent cars from turning into oncoming traffic
installing two new raised pedestrian crossings on both Sunderlands Road and Bucklands Beach Road
reinstating three private driveways, to ensure that roundabout can be successfully installed
installing new central traffic island, road markings and signage to support the roundabout
removing two trees, to make the space for the new pedestrian crossing and roundabout
marking the existing bus stop on Sunderlands Road, to allow buses to enter and exit safely.

This involves removing 12 car parking spaces to provide for the proposed raised zebra crossing, marking of the bus stop and to enable the operation of the proposed roundabout at the intersection.

At the Priestley Drive/Bucklands Beach Road intersection, we proposed:

installing 'Keep Clear' road markings to allow traffic to safely enter and exit Priestley Drive
upgrading the existing pedestrian islands on Priestley Drive to provide a wider crossing facility
marking the existing bus stop pairs on Priestley Drive to allow buses to enter and exit safely.

This involves removing eight car parking spaces to mark the existing bus stops and to ensure sufficient visibility at the intersection.

This project is made possible by the Auckland Regional Fuel Tax.

Download the proposal drawing for Bucklands Beach Road (PDF 2MB)

Why the changes are needed

Our proposal responded to several recent crashes at this location. It is aimed at encouraging people to drive at lower speeds and significantly improving pedestrian safety.

Proposal outcome

The new roundabout will proceed with minor changes to the design based on community feedback. Changes involve:

adding bike ramps on the approaches and departures of the roundabout to allow for less-confident riders to leave the road
widening the footpaths around the roundabout to 2.5 metres where possible, to provide for bikes and people using the footpath.

Thank you to everyone who responded to our proposal and gave us the chance to better understand your community and concerns. A summary of your feedback and our responses to community questions is below.

Community feedback

Request for additional speed bumps on Bucklands Beach Road, to reduce speeds particularly late at night. e expect that the operating speed through the proposed roundabout will be slower. Our investigations indicate that speeds will be reduced to approximately 30km/h as part of this intersection improvement project. We will investigate your request of installing additional speed humps on Bucklands Beach Road, if complaints about speed continue after the construction of the roundabout.
Concern that proposed pedestrian crossings will increase the pedestrian traffic making it more dangerous for cars to reverse out of some driveways. We do not expect that it will make the reversing of vehicles any more dangerous. The purpose of the proposed raised zebra crossing is to provide a safe crossing facility for the pedestrians including school children in the area and encourage safe and appropriate speeds through this intersection.
Concern about the removal of parking in a parking area with relatively high demand. The proposed removal of on-street parking on both Sunderlands Road and Bucklands Beach Road is to support and enable the proposed raised zebra crossings and the roundabout. We expect the proposal will improve the safety for pedestrians, people on bikes and people driving through this high-risk intersection. We acknowledge that there will be some parking loss and we have reviewed the design to minimise the parking loss. Our investigations have suggested that there is sufficient parking capacity in the area.
Request to consider a traffic signal intersection as opposed to a roundabout, as this will provide increased safety improvements. We considered the option of installing traffic light signals. We are of the view that traffic lights do not encourage people to drive at safe and appropriate speeds through this intersection like the roundabout would provide. Traffic lights do not align with the surrounding environment considering there is another roundabout south of the intersection. Our analysis also predicted that traffic signals could result in greater delay for both Sunderlands Road and Bucklands Beach Road traffic compared to the roundabout proposal.
Concern that the proposal will cause further congestion for cars attempting to turn right onto priestly drive. The respondent notes 5 – 10 cars can be backed up at peak times. The proposed ‘keep clear’ road markings at Priestley Drive intersection will allow for greater flow of traffic particularly those turning right into Priestley Drive. We do not expect any added delay as a result of the installation of the roundabout.
Concern raised pedestrian crossing will cause more danger to cyclists. We have made some improvements to improve cyclist’s safety, after reviewing community feedback. We have added ramps to approaches and departures of the proposed roundabout to allow for less-confident riders to go off-road as needed. We are increasing the width of the shared footpath around the roundabout.
Concern over the impacts of the proposed roundabout on congestion on Bucklands Beach Road. We have undertaken a traffic modelling to understand the impact of this proposal to Bucklands Beach Road and it is predicted that it will operate and perform at a level of service similar to the existing.
Request to install ‘Stop signs’ on Bucklands Beach Road, this will allow cars to turn right freely from Sunderlands Road. The suggested ‘Stop’ signs on Bucklands Beach Road will create an unsafe environment for all road users at this intersection. Generally, we use a ‘Give-Way’ or ‘Stop’ sign on smaller and quieter roads. It is not a common to control traffic on a major road (e.g. Bucklands Beach Road) via a ‘Stop’ sign alone. The proposal will operate similarly to the suggested ‘stop’ signs as all movements at this intersection will be controlled by the proposed roundabout via ‘Give-way’ signs.
Request to move pedestrian crossing. Our investigation indicates that there are pedestrian crossing demands across Bucklands Beach Road near Sunderlands Road intersection that justify a pedestrian crossing at this location.
Concern of the noise impacts of the roundabout and pedestrian crossing on surrounding residents. We consider the noise impacts of the proposal to be minor or similar to the existing operation.
Request to consider improvements at Richard Avenue, given the similarity of intersection. We have reviewed Richard Avenue intersections and it is not being prioritised for further investigation as it is not a high-risk intersection.
Concern that the proposed changes including removal of parking, increased pedestrian traffic and access difficulties will affect the value of properties in the immediate area. We are not aware of any evidence indicating that the removal of parking has led to a reduction in property value.

Next steps

These works are planned to be completed by June 2021, but we will let you know if there are further changes or delays.

Our contractors will send notices to affected residents 48-hours prior to construction starting.