Let’s take this slow(er) – in Herne Bay [Updated]

[Now updated with our recommendations]

Auckland Transport is consulting on very welcome changes at the intersection of Sarsfield Street / Curran Street in Herne Bay / Saint Mary’s Bay, to help people on foot and bikes. Consultation closes Friday 30 October. 

This intersection is on a street that is important for many locals going to the City Centre, the Waterfront, or nearby schools and shops – but it’s also on a steep downhill from the Jervois Road ridge, and heads straight for the Harbour Bridge motorway on-ramp, meaning that lots of people speed down here. It is a typical example of how the “motorway environment” creeps backwards into our suburbs.

AT is now proposing to:

• narrow the road down with islands to slow down traffic to the motorway – which will also help pedestrians cross the road
• provide a downhill protected cycle lane through the intersection to ensure cyclists dont get squeezed out by the sudden narrowing (there is much less uphill traffic, as the motorway ramp is one-way on Curran Street)
• add raised tables on each Sarsfield Street approach, to slow crossing and turning vehicle traffic

With SkyPath not confirmed yet, this is obviously not directly related – but it would certainly help walking and cycling safely to the bridge path once built, and it is on one of the confirmed Urban Cycleways routes, from the western surburbs into the city. We think it’s a pretty good scheme, and you should give feedback here to support it.

What should you consider submitting? Well, how about:

• Requesting zebra crossings on those raised tables – slow drivers down some more, help people on foot and bikes
• Making sure the raised tables are full-height (they seem half-height from the fact there are pram crossings still shown going onto them)
• Asking for the “refuge crossings” (the islands in the middle of Curran Street) to be wide and deep enough to take multiple people – and to be able to have a bicycle with you in the middle of the road without having it stick into the traffic lanes at the front or back (the design isn’t fully clear on whether this is okay already or not)
• Asking for the cycle lane protection to also be extended downstream of the intersection, towards the Harbour Bridge (except at driveways of course)