The bus lane on Links Ave has become a hot topic. Photo / NZME
Calls for Tauranga City Council to abort plans for a temporary cul-de-sac on Mount Maunganui's Links Ave from Monday have so far been unsuccessful despite escalating opposition.
The council says it is "prioritising the safety of the school children over the convenience of motorists" and community feedback on the five-week trial will be considered.
Last month, the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend revealed the council's plans to reduce Links Ave traffic through a five-week trial creating a cul-de-sac near the western entrance to Ascot Ave. Buses would be allowed through but rat-runners would not.
Since then, objections have mounted with some writing letters to Parliament lobbying for the trial to be abandoned. A petition calling for the plans to be scrapped has also been created and a protest has been held, with another expected on Sunday.
But the trial is still going ahead.
The issue of road safety was first brought up with the council three years ago by Links Ave residents as the road was redesigned to include a bus lane and a wider shared footpath.
They believed the proximity of the traffic to the shared path busy with schoolchildren was dangerous and called for the bus lane to be removed.
Community spokesman Michael Dance, who headed the presentations, said he was disappointed and frustrated. He said he felt the community's plea was ignored by the council and couldn't understand why they wouldn't remove the bus lane.
In a letter sent to Tauranga City Council director of transport Brandon Bisley, the Ministry of Transport, Police, WorkSafe, council commissioners and local MPs, ratepayer representatives said they believed the matter was a health and safety issue if there was an accident involving children and buses in the bus lane.
Ross Crowley from Tauranga Ratepayers Alliance; Philip Brown from Papamoa Residents and Ratepayers Association; and Michael O'Neill from Mount Maunganui Residents, Ratepayers and Retail Association said they did not believe closing the road to most traffic reduced the risk, and put cars on other roads which were already over capacity.
The letter called for the trial to be abandoned.
Bisley told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend this week the trial would prioritise the safety of children in the street.
"[The] council is prioritising the safety of the school children over the convenience of motorists that would like to save a few minutes in travel time."
He said traffic on the road had increased from 2000 vehicles per day before the bus lane was in place, to 5500 vehicles per day now.
"At that volume, it is not safe for cyclists to be sharing the road space as there is a higher chance of an accident the higher the traffic volume.
"If we simply removed the bus lane and put it back to what it was, the road would not be any safer for the school age children using the street, we would simple be replacing one set of risks for another."
Bisley said if Links Ave was only used by its residents and streets off it, it would not need a cul-de-sac.
"The key issue is the additional 3500 vehicles that use the street as a convenient route to avoid the roadworks or congestion on surrounding streets. These additional vehicles have significantly increased the risk for the school children that attend the schools in the area."
Bisley said if the cul-de-sac trial successfully reduced traffic volumes to 2000 per day the council could remove the bus lane and use the road differently.
"For example, carparking could be reinstated for residents, trees could be put along the road. Until the volumes are reduced this is not possible."
Asked what consideration the council would give the petition, Bisley said consultation would be undertaken during the trial and feedback would be considered.
"[The] council does appreciate that the cul-de-sac trial will inconvenience some people. This is why it is intended to be a trail."
He said the council would assess the impacts on surrounding roads using already-installed monitoring equipment to record travel times.
"This equipment is already in place so we have reliable data before the trail is in place and then can monitor it during the trial.
"We expect that it will be from week three before we get to see more reliable travel time data that can allow us to accurately assess the impact on the surrounding streets."