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Waller Avenue, Bucklands Beach – Kea crossing Waller Avenue, Bucklands Beach – Kea crossing

Proposal status: closed 17 August 2018

Reference number: RTV-174

We're proposing changes in your area

We are proposing to upgrade the pedestrian crossing outside 61 Waller Avenue, in Bucklands Beach, to a Kea crossing. This would also involve installation of 'No stopping at all times' restrictions leading up to the crossing and the addition of limit lines and new signage.

Download the proposal drawing for Waller Avenue (PDF 474KB) 

Why the changes are needed

The proposed changes aim to improve visibility and driver awareness, creating a safer environment for pedestrians and school children to cross the road.

Proposal outcome

This project will proceed without changes to the next stage of detailed planning. A summary of the community feedback we received and answers to questions and concerns is below. 

Feedback received

  • Request for a zebra crossing instead of a Kea crossing,
    Request to have a patrolled crossing,
    Request for a more controlled crossing which forces vehicles to stop.     At this stage we are only implementing some minor reactive works so that we can formalise the Kea crossing, which will be monitored by staff/parents from Bucklands Beach primary school. Once the Kea crossing has been formalised we will monitor the effect this has on the operation of the crossing to determine if any further changes are necessary to improve its safety.
    A zebra crossing which is underutilised can create additional safety issues outside of school times as drivers will not expect pedestrians at the location concerned, and their awareness and attention of the pedestrian crossing will decrease. Furthermore, pedestrians naturally feel more confident crossing at a pedestrian crossing and can take less care than they would were there no facility. The combination these two aspects can have the adverse effect of the facility becoming a dangerous crossing point.
  • Concern over having children guide other children across a busy road with no signage or crossing marked on the road. While the Kea crossing is in operation it will be monitored by staff/parents from Bucklands Beach primary school.
  • Query regarding what a white limit line is and its purpose. The white limit line is painted to indicate where drivers should stop when the crossing is in use.
  • Request that road markings are installed to alert drivers to crossing. There is existing signage which alerts road users that there are school children crossing in the area. Furthermore, while the Kea crossing is in use the school will put up an orange flag near the crossing to provide additional awareness of the crossing for drivers.
  • Request to lower speed to 40km/h We have previously investigated the possibility of implementing a 40km/h school zone on Waller Avenue. One of the requirements for a 40km/h school zone is that the operating speed of vehicles immediately before and after school is greater than 50km/h. During our previous investigation it was found that the operating speed of vehicles in the area was less than 50km/h immediately before and after school. For this reason it is not currently justified to implement a 40km/h school zone on Waller Avenue.
  • Concern over speed of vehicles travelling along the road and request for speedbumps. We are currently developing a plan to reduce speeds on Auckland’s roads. This plan will identify the highest priority areas for the initial roll out of speed reduction, on approximately 10% of our road network, including residential areas. The new area-based focus recognises that traffic-calming changes on one street have a flow-on effect on the surrounding neighbourhood. This plan will support all drivers to travel at the appropriate speed and to the road condition. In addition to speed reduction, we also intend to make infrastructural changes to encourage drivers to slow down. We intend to carry out these changes over a three-year period from 2019, targeting delivery to a small number of residential areas each year. These areas have been prioritised to reduce the incidence and impact of crashes. This is based on several factors, including the number of crashes, safety risk, traffic speed, land use and concerns raised by local residents and their elected representatives. More information, including the residential areas that will be prioritised for further investigation will soon be available on our website.
  • Query regarding the expected timeframe of this proposal. Once consultation has been closed out, a resolution report will be prepared for committee approval. Once this is approved the works will be scheduled. We expect this to take place by early next year.
  • Request for more signage. All the appropriate signage will be installed to meet the standard required for a Kea crossing.
  • Suggestion to clarify when to yield/priority as flag system can be confusing. When the Kea crossing is in use, the school patrol will hold out lollipop signs to indicate when approaching traffic is required to stop.
  • Request to install speed signs in prominent more visible places along the road as cars are often driving at high speeds. The speed limit on all connecting roads to Waller Avenue is 50km/h and this is an obviously residential area where the speed limit is always 50km/h. For this reason additional speed limit signs are not considered to be necessary.
  • Concern over ongoing visibility issues – due to trucks and cranes which been parking along the streets and causing other vehicles to park in dangerous places. The proposed parking restrictions ensure that there will be sufficient visibility for pedestrians to cross from the Kea crossing point.
    There is no law restricting parking in urban areas and whilst we accept that vehicles parked on the road can often be an inconvenience and problematic at times, there is a need to provide a balance between the parking requirements of local residents (especially those in areas that have not traditionally provided off-street parking), and the need to maintain reasonable public access to the public roads. However, if you see vehicles parking illegally please call our call centre on (09) 355 3553 at any time with the vehicle details and enforcement will be organised.
  • Request to have more traffic enforcement to make sure that drivers are committing to the 2 minunte parking time zone and not blocking driveways. Our community transport team will work with the school to assist with improved enforcement through our safety at the school gate programme.
  • Concern over ongoing situation of cars turning into, and backing out of, driveways before and after school for drop offs. It is the responsibility of the vehicle user to ensure that they take care when driving and give way to pedestrians who may be crossing their driveway. Any dangerous driving behaviour should be reported to the police. Our community transport team will work with the school to assist with improved enforcement through our safety at the school gate programme.
  • Concern that parking is already overly restricted on Waller Avenue. The proposal will only remove 1 parking space outside 61 Waller Avenue.
  • Concern that we are taking a popular parking space outside of 61 Waller Avenue. The removal of the parking space outside 61 Waller Avenue is required to meet the standard for safe operation of a Kea crossing, which requires that there is at least 6 metres of broken yellow lines on the departure side of a Kea crossing. This is to ensure that there is adequate visibility for pedestrians crossing at this location.
  • Suggestion to show the parking restrictions in a better way (clearer signage etc). The signage and road markings will be installed to standard for a typical Kea crossing and will ensure that approaching road users are alerted to the restrictions put in place.
  • Request that any parking restrictions are only around school open/close hours & Request that we make the current parking restrictions be No Stopping Between 8:30am to 9:30am and 2:30pm to 3:30pm (there is currently a 2 minute stopping allowance) and not install proposed parking restrictions. The design standard for this type of Kea crossing requires permanent parking restrictions on the departure side of the crossing. This is to ensure that there is adequate visibility for pedestrians crossing the road. We have minimised the extent of the parking restrictions in our proposal so that only 1 on-street park is removed.

Next steps

This work will happen in between September 2018 and June 2019, 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.