Residents battle to keep crossing

A walkway between Seaway Terrace and Ngatai Rd is due to close this month due to safety issues. Photo by John Borren.

Users of a Tauranga shortcut linking the end of Beach Rd with Ngatai Rd have asked for a 30-day reprieve from KiwiRail's decision to ban them from crossing the railway line.

The walkway that descends steeply from Ngatai Rd and links into the Seaway Tce cul-de-sac is popular with elderly people, particularly those walking their dogs.

Objections to KiwiRail banning people from crossing the railway line because of safety concerns emerged at a meeting today of the Tauranga City Council.

KiwiRail's zero harm manager Peter Dix said the walkway crossing was illegal and they had been working with the council on its closure for a number of years.

He acknowledged that the community living around the track felt aggrieved but it was an "illegal fixture in the rail corridor".

Mr Dix said the visibility of trains coming from town was poor and it would cost hundreds of thousands in earthworks and installing a proper pedestrian crossing to remedy the situation. Visibility was good from the direction of the Kaimais.

He said all age groups crossed the tracks, with children wearing music ear plugs and elderly people with limited mobility the most at risk from being hit by a train.

Residents responded that they were unhappy when a flyer was stapled to the walkway fence about April 3 announcing that KiwiRail intended to close the crossing.

They said they were given only four working days notice of the intention to close the walkway. Seaway Tce resident Doreen Anderson said they had engaged the services of a transportation safety specialist and she asked for an extension of 30 days before the closure took place.

A tunnel under the railway line, similar to one linking Matua with Ngatai Rd, would be a viable option, she said.

Ngatai Rd resident John Buck said a KiwiRail report on the closure detailed how the walkway was used by an average of nine people every day. He said trains were heard a long time before they arrived at the crossing and he had not heard locomotives tooting at that point.

After the meeting he asked what the problem was if the crossing was being used by only nine people a day. There had been no reports of deaths or injuries in the long history of the walkway.

Mr Dix was unable to give an undertaking that KiwiRail would agree to a 30-day extension.