- By Simeon Brown, MP for Pakuranga
As the Eastern Busway project continues to make progress, with the Pakuranga to Botany stage and the Reeves Road Flyover set to start construction soon, Auckland Transport (AT) are sadly trying to add several speed bumps along Ti Rakau Drive.
Calling them “raised safety platforms”, their most recent design plans include these speed bumps at each of the bus stations planned for Ti Rakau Drive.
These would be located near the Reeves Road intersection, the Edgewater Drive intersection nearest Chevis Place, and the Gossamer Drive intersection, and would serve no purpose but to unnecessarily slow traffic down.
The designs for these bus stations already include proper traffic management, so adding a speed bump will do nothing to improve safety for those wishing to catch a bus, and instead only hinder those driving their cars.
This is typical of AT’s approach to transport in recent years, spurred on by policies initiated by the Labour government who seem intent on making drivers miserable and forcing them out of their cars.
East Auckland already suffers from some of the worst congestion in Auckland, and the community justifiably rallied against a similar, crazy proposal to install a speed bump on Pakuranga Road.
Fortunately, in that case, AT saw the light and cancelled that proposal, and I am hoping another community effort can get them to change their minds on the Ti Rakau speed bumps as well.
Last week I launched a petition calling on AT to stop these three speed bumps, with nearly 2000 of you already signing it.
If you agree these speed bumps would only make a further mess of traffic in Pakuranga, without providing a real benefit in return, please sign the petition at simeonbrown.national.org.nz/tirakaucrossings.
The Eastern Busway is one of the most important transport projects in Auckland and one our community has waited more than a decade for.
It is imperative we get it right and do not get bogged down with speed bumps that, frankly, would make the expected congestion improvements from this project obsolete.
Please sign the petition and send AT a clear message: stop trying to install speed bumps on our main roads!
