Cameron Rd records highest pedestrian injury rate in Tauranga

Five signalised pedestrian crossing points will be in place between Elizabeth St and 11th Ave once the upgrades on Cameron Rd are complete. Photo / George Novak

It's a 1.6km stretch of road across 11 blocks with dozens of businesses and it has one pedestrian crossing.

That's why businesses on Cameron Rd, between Elizabeth St and 11th Ave, have major concerns for people trying to cross the road.

New data shows Cameron Rd recorded the most pedestrian injuries from crashes in Tauranga in the past 10 years. Tauranga City Council says any injury is "one too many" and it is working on safety upgrades including extra crossings.

Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency data showed there were 28 injuries on Cameron Rd in the past 10 years.

Maunganui Rd recorded the next highest number of injuries with 11.

Between Elizabeth St and 11th Ave on Cameron Rd, there is one pedestrian crossing located near 5th Ave. Photo / George Novak

Owner of Unichem Faulkners Pharmacy Stuart MacDonald said he was a "big advocate" for improving pedestrian access and there was "a good chunk" of Cameron Rd where there were no pedestrian crossings.

"That's 11 blocks - about 1.5km – and there's one crossing in the middle of that," he said.

"The distance between crossings, forcing pedestrians to run the gauntlet of Cameron Rd, is not safe.

"It's got a huge volume of traffic each day – both pedestrian and vehicle."

Gluten Free Me co-owner Jamie Lunam said there were "probably not enough safe crossing locations" on Cameron Rd.

With new pedestrian crossings being installed, Lunam said there were "a few situations where there could have been some sooner", particularly between the Warehouse and Pak'nSave.

"It's a long way to be able to cross there safely and to run across the road and stand on the island is fraught with its challenges."

Lunam said the Ninth Ave roundabout was "extremely busy" and horns tooted "constantly all day with near misses with car incidents".

A total of 259 pedestrian injuries have been recorded in the Tauranga city area in the past 10 years, 11 of them fatal. Photo / George Novak

Blooms on Cameron owner Katie Morris said despite the futureproofing project, pedestrian injuries were still a concern "because the bike lanes will still be on the footpath".

"There's quite a lot of elderly people around ... if someone was to walk out of a shop and someone came past on a bike or a scooter ... it wouldn't be very good for them."

Principal of Tauranga Boys' College Robert Mangan said the school was looking forward to the pedestrian crossing, which would be installed at the 14th Ave intersection.

"It will obviously disrupt the flow of traffic, but it will assist the safety of students."

Tauranga City Council's director of transport Brendan Bisley said any injury on Cameron Rd was "one too many" and pedestrian road safety issues were being addressed through the Futureproofing Cameron Road project.

Issues included speeding, the number of intersections on Cameron Rd and the "limited number of crossing facilities".

"We either need to put measures in place to help reduce speed or separate vulnerable road users to improve safety," he said.

"Having clear markings which make it obvious where pedestrians should walk also contributes positively to safety."

Future-proofing Cameron Rd: Artist's impression of the street view of 6th Ave. Photo / Supplied

Bisley said the project was designed to ensure it was safer for everyone "no matter who they are or how they are moving".

Safety upgrades for pedestrians included adding more signalised crossings, designing safer side road intersections and restricting or closing off some side roads to Cameron Rd.

Footpath quality and safety would be improved by adding more lighting, making them more level and using tactile pavers to help people with visual impairments.

There would be five signalised crossing points between Elizabeth St and 11th Ave once the project had been completed.

The existing crossing near 5th Ave would be upgraded, a new crossing would be installed near 10th Ave, and new traffic lights with pedestrian crossings would be installed at 3rd Ave, 6th Ave and 9th Ave. The existing crossings at Elizabeth St and 11th Ave would be retained.

"Pedestrian crossings will be conveniently located near bus stops to enable better pedestrian and public transport access to the CBD and other key destinations along the corridor," Bisley said.

"Safe shared spaces" had been designed for pedestrians and cyclists - they would be separated through low-level planting, concrete kerbing and line markings.

"We want everyone to be able to move around this area safely."

Main construction works for stage one (Harington St to 17th Ave) for the Futureproofing Cameron Rd project is scheduled to begin this month.

Caveats from NZTA
• Data is provided to NZTA from the Crash Analysis System (CAS) version 2.2.0.
• NZTA maintains the CAS which is updated once a Traffic Crash Report is received from NZ Police sometime after the crash.
• Data is for all injury crashes between 2011 and 2021 as recorded in CAS as of August 17, 2021.
• Data is limited to pedestrian (people on foot, skateboarders, wheeled pedestrians) crashes in the Tauranga City territorial local authority.
• A crash, to be recorded in CAS, must have occurred on a road. The CAS definition of a road is any street, motorway or beach, or a place to which the public have access with a motor vehicle, whether as of right or not e.g. a public car park.
• Due to the police reporting time frame and subsequent data processing there is a lag from the time of a crash to full and correct crash records within CAS.
• Due to the nature of non-fatal crashes it is believed these are under-reported, with the level of under-reporting decreasing with the severity of the crash.
• Where multiple roads meet at an intersection, the crash road is recorded as interpreted by the reporting officer.
• 2020 and 2021 data is incomplete.

Caveat from Tauranga City Council
• The artist's impression image is indicative and the changes will be designed around existing businesses.