340 Motutara Road, Muriwai - Pedestrian improvements 340 Motutara Road, Muriwai - Pedestrian improvements

Proposal status: Feedback closed 6 July 2020, last updated 21 September 2020.

Reference number: CSFR1.1

In July 2020, we proposed changes in your area

To improve pedestrian safety, the Rodney Local Board and Auckland Transport proposed to install a new informal crossing and footpath at the corner of Domain Crescent and 340 Motutara Road. These changes have been requested by the local board to improve pedestrian safety in this area. The proposal aims to make it safer for people to cross the road.

We proposed to:

  • Install an informal crossing which means people driving are not required to stop however the crossing would provide a safer place to cross the road.
  • Install new broken yellow lines (no stopping at all times) to improve visibility for drivers, removing a total of 15 parking spaces.
  • Install tactile pavers which are yellow guidance paving markers to help visually impaired people cross the road.

Download the original proposal drawing for Motutara Road (PDF 372KB)

Proposal outcome

The proposal for 340 Motutara Road will proceed with no changes to the next stage of detailed design.

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 Safety Fund

The Community Safety Fund is focused on tackling road safety concerns. This programme is dependent on the level of funding AT receives from Auckland Council. Unfortunately this year, funding has been constrained due to the impact of Covid-19. Planning and design will continue but currently many projects cannot be delivered in the 2020/2021 financial year.

This proposal is also supported by the Auckland regional fuel tax

Muriwai: 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 Motutara 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).

Community feedback

  • Requests for speed bumps to be installed to reduce vehicle speeds. The main focus of this proposal is to provide a safe crossing facility and connection for people crossing at this location. We are currently working to a plan to reduce speeds on Auckland’s roads. This plan targets the highest priority areas based on the level of safety risk measured for each road on our network. The initial roll out of speed reduction is focused on approximately 10% of our road network, including residential areas.
    This programme focuses delivery to areas that have been prioritised for changes 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.
    While we do appreciate your concerns, Motutara Road has not been identified in the first group of areas within our Residential Speed Management programme as other areas in the region are experiencing higher speeds and safety risk. More information, including the residential areas that will be prioritised for further investigation can be viewed on the Residential Speed Management Programme page.
  • Request for speed limits to be lowered to encourage safer driving as many people drive over the legal speed limit. Under the Speed Limits Bylaw 2019, Auckland Transport is looking to reduce the speed limits of some high-risk rural, urban and residential roads, as well as various town centres and the city centre. While we do appreciate your concerns, Motutara Road has currently not been identified as part of these speed limit changes. The roads currently under consideration for a change to their speed limit have been selected based on a number of criteria, including the risk of death or serious injury as well as those with large numbers of vulnerable road users. 90% of the roads we plan to reduce speed on are rural roads. The remaining are made up of the city centre, town centres and residential roads. They have been selected because they:
    • are either high-risk roads or close to high-risk roads.
    • have high crash rates or are close to roads with high crash rates.
    • have speed limits which are unsuitable – they could be winding, hilly or have unsegregated lanes.
    • don’t have a centre median strip.

    Some ‘self-explaining’ roads, or sections of roads, have been included. These are areas where the road conditions already cause drivers to travel at a lower speed – such as winding rural roads and traffic-calmed urban areas. Therefore, reducing the speed limit will make it easier for people who don’t know the roads well to know what the appropriate speed is. See our website for more information on the speed limit changes around Auckland.
  • Request to make the footpath wider so there is room for pedestrians to pass whilst people are waiting to cross. The new footpath is designed based on the site constraints to accommodate the existing pedestrian demand. The proposed width and extent of new footpath on Motutara Road are in accordance with Auckland Transport standards.
  • Concerns that the footpath will affect existing services such as fibre and will not fit in with the existing kerb/pavement. The new footpath will be designed to avoid impact on existing underground services. Prior to any works commencing, our contractors will locate and identify all existing services.
  • Request for the location of the informal crossing to be moved further south on Motutara Road, away from the driveway. The proposed location of the crossing will make it easier for people driving and people crossing to see each other. Relocating the crossing will reduce visibility to the west, predominantly due to the crossing being located closer to the edge of the road. Therefore, the proposed location of the crossing is considered most appropriate.

Next steps

We will be in touch with you when we know more about how this project will be impacted by the current budget constraints. Once funding is secured, our contractors will send notices to residents or businesses affected by works 48 hours before the work starts.