Auckland Transport's proposal for St Heliers and Mission Bay 'over the top'

Wednesday, 10 April 2019

A video overview of AT's original plan which would have created 13 new pedestrian crossings and removed 40 car parking spaces in the St Heliers town centre (Video first published April 10, 2019).

Thirteen raised zebra crossings are part of an Auckland road safety proposal that's been dubbed 'excessive' and 'over the top'.

Auckland Transport has made the proposal – which also includes a new traffic island and a widened path between The Parade and Vale Rd – for the beachside suburbs of St Heliers and Mission Bay as part of a city-wide road safety initiative.

To put the plan in place, 40 car parks would be removed around busy Tamaki Drive.

AT's group manager of network management, Randhir Karma, says new zebra crossing would make it safer for people to get from the town centre to the sea front.

Mike Walsh, the acting chairman of the St Heliers and Glendowie residents' association, said the proposal was 'completely over the top' and poorly justified by the crash statistics presented by AT.

Councillor Desley Simpson says St Heliers was not a major speed trap.

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From 2013 to 2017, there were 39 reported crashes which caused three serious injuries and seven minor casualties. The crashes involved four pedestrians, three cyclists, one motorcyclist and one moped rider.

However, Walsh said while serious crashes should be targeted, many of the crashes in St Heliers were parking-related.

'It's just people dinging into cars,' Walsh said.

Losing 40 car parks was going to make it harder for locals to go into the town centre, he said.

'Many of the locals are a bit older and have to drive – they can't walk up and down hills and there's no convenient buses.'

Changes have been proposed along Tamaki Drive in St Heliers and Mission Bay.

The suburb was not a 'boom town' and losing the car parks would mean the businesses there would suffer, he said.

Ōrākei Ward councillor Desley Simpson said St Heliers was a village – 'you're not talking about a major speed trap here'.

The area had already lost some car parks to buses, she said.

'People drive, stay for a while and go home, and the proposal is going to severely impact them.

'I think you could reasonable argue that in St Heliers, there are enough crossings.'

AT's group manager of network management, Randhir Karma, said St Heliers and Mission Bay attracted a lot of people.

'There needs to be an easier way to connect the sea front with the town centres and we are proposing new zebra crossings to make it safer for people to get to their destinations around the centres more safely,' Karma said.

The challenge St Heliers and Mission Bay faced was commuters parking all day and taking up car parks visitors could be using.

AT was currently asking for feedback on its proposals and was keen to work with the community, Karma said.

Peter Jones, the chairman of the St Heliers Bay Business Association, said if the proposals were to go through, it would severely impact businesses.

'With St Heliers, people come down in a relaxed way, do some shopping and it's no stress. This will impact that experience, people are not going to drive around four times to find a car park,' Jones said.

'Let's get it off the table, form a working group between residents, businesses and AT, which I think will help with the angst.

'There has been a lack of discussion in putting the proposal together.'

St Heliers Bay Home Cookery owner Lance Le Gia said there were not enough car parks in the area and reducing them would have a negative impact on his business.

'Most of the people who come here are locals – people from St Heliers, Mission Bay and Ōrākei come to use the bank and if we lose our car parks, they'll move somewhere else.

'If it goes through, I'm worried about my business.'

Feedback was open until April 30.

The St Heliers and Glendowie residents' association and the St Heliers Business Association would be meeting on April 15 to discuss this proposal. Auckland Transport has been invited to the meeting.