Pāpāmoa Beach Rd resident Jan Neale is frustrated with road noise levels outside his home. Photo / Brydie Thompson
Residents of a busy suburban Pāpāmoa street are fed up with “unbearable” road noise that forces one family to shout inside their home just to hear each other.
Neighbours Jan Neale and Mariette Coetzee live on the stretch of Pāpāmoa Beach Rd between Domain Rd and Palm Beach Boulevard.
They believe the chip seal road surface is a big part of the noise problem, and want it replaced with asphalt.
The council says that would cost more than $2 million because a footpath would also need replacing.
Coetzee has lived there for a year and said the road noise was “absolutely crazy”.
Her windows were single-glazed, and she said she kept the house shut up to reduce the noise.
“The noise is unbearable, especially when the trucks come through. I have to close my doors, and you can still hear the traffic.
“You don’t even dare sit outside because it’s so loud.”
Even with the windows closed, Coetzee and her daughter often had to shout to hear each other, and the outdoor noise sometimes kept her awake at night.
“I just want to sleep and get a proper rest, but it’s not always possible.”
Neale said the road noise was unacceptable, and he was also concerned about speeding vehicles.
He presented a petition about his concerns to the Tauranga City Council in April last year.
He asked the council to replace the chip seal surface with asphalt and add plants to the 400m-long bank opposite him to reduce the noise.
“It’s the noisiest part of Pāpāmoa Beach Rd because it’s got that 3.5m bank across the road, which just amplifies the noise, and it shoots it right into our front yards.”
Using a decibel app on his phone, Neale said he recorded road noise at 87dB outside his home.
Closer to the Domain Rd intersection, where the road was asphalt, the noise level was 20dB lower, he said.
The Hearing Health Foundation’s website says sounds above 70dB can damage hearing over time.
Neale said nothing had been done since April and the council had been “fobbing me off”.
He has lived in his home for 10 years and had campaigned for improvements for two years.
Neale said he had spent $60,000 on double-glazing his windows and recladding his home to try to reduce noise.
He was also looking at building an acoustic fence that would cost about $50,000, but was unsure if it would make a difference.
Neale said he could not sit on his deck during peak traffic and wore earplugs to work outside because of the noise.
“That constant noise just makes you so angry. It’s not good for your health, putting up with that sort of stress.”
Coetzee agreed that asphalt was needed to reduce the noise.
She also suggested adding traffic lights to the Domain Rd roundabout to break up the traffic and hopefully reduce the noise.
Council head of transport Mike Seabourne said a recent traffic count for that section of Pāpāmoa Beach Rd was 9300 vehicles per day.
The road surface along that stretch was in good operable condition, and the council did not have plans to replace it, he said.
If the council were to asphalt the road between Domain Rd and Stella Place, where the bank ended, the footpath would also need to be replaced, Seabourne said.
The cost of asphalt and a new footpath would be $2.04m, which was “significantly more” than chipseal, he said. The breakdown was $1.58m for the replacement pavement and $387,000 for asphalt.
Asphalt cost about five times that of chipseal, so it was reserved for use on the most highly trafficked roads, Seabourne said.
The council also needed to comply with NZ Transport Agency policy to qualify for a subsidy toward resealing, he said.
“NZTA require that the designs for pavement and surfacing be fit for purpose and provide value for money.”
Although asphalt surfaces were desirable, the council and NZTA prioritised road expenditure where it was needed most and offered the most cost-effective solutions to keep the road network safe, operable and provide value for money to ratepayers and taxpayers, Seabourne said.
Council head of spaces and places Alison Law said the proposal to plant the bank between Domain Rd and Stella Place was investigated but had been rejected as not practical.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.