Latest news with #buslane
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
‘Good outcome': Trial reopening for Tauranga street closed seven years
The Hairini St bus lane will reopen to vehicles outside of morning peak hour for a three-month trial from October. Photo: LDR / SUPPLIED A trial reopening of a Tauranga street closed for seven years has been labelled a "good outcome" for nearby residents feeling stuck "in a rat trap". Transport planners, however, are concerned it will create safety issues. The citybound Hairini St slip lane to Turret Rd and the Hairini Bridge will reopen, except from 6.30am to 9.30am weekdays, for a three-month trial from October. The road was closed in July 2018 when the Maungatapu Underpass opened, to avoid having three lanes merging into one at the notorious traffic bottleneck. It became a bus-only lane. This meant to leave Hairini, motorists had to backtrack to the State Highway 29 Hairini St intersection. Photo: The slip lane's closure was met with opposition from residents upset about a lack of consultation and communication about the changes. The decision to reopen the street was made at Tauranga City Council City Delivery Committee meeting on Tuesday. The council worked with local hapū Ngāi Te Ahi to develop options for the trial. Ngāi Te Ahi representative Irene Walker told Local Democracy Reporting Hairini Marae asked the council for the street to be reopened five years ago. The opening was a "good outcome" because it allowed people the freedom to move, she said. "Residents like the idea that they don't feel as though they're in a rat trap. There is another way out." Council staff recommended traffic calming measures for Hairini St, such as speed bumps, but the committee opted to do this only if required after the trial began because of the cost. Walker said she was not worried about there being no new safety measures because she didn't think they were needed. Hairini resident Graham Hopkins first asked the council to reopen the street in 2020. Hairini resident Graham Hopkins asked the council to reopen Hairini St in 2020. Photo: John Borren / LDR The trial was a chance to see if it would work, he said. "I'm not overly excited, but I am happy that they're at least going to give it a trial." Having to backtrack to get to Turret Rd added about 1km to a trip and getting on to the roundabout could be difficult, he said. Hopkins said he did not have concerns about safety because the slip lane was residents' main accessway prior to the street's closure. A pedestrian crossing on Hairini St would be a "good idea" for children walking to school, he said. At the meeting, Mayor Mahé Drysdale asked what the cost of the traffic calming measures would be. Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale. Photo: David Hall / LDR Council transport programme manager Brent Goodhue said the cost was $20,000 for the safety measures and $10,000 in traffic management while they were installed. More traffic, potentially driving faster down Hairini St, was expected when the road opened, he said. "We would end up with negative impacts to the local community if we didn't put those [safety measures] in at the same time." The trial would allow the council to assess safety, accessibility and monitor the impact it had on the wider road network, said Goodhue. It would also determine the viability of a long-term solution after construction of the proposed Turret Rd / 15th Ave upgrades. June council data showed an average of 27,671 vehicles used the Hairini Bridge/Turret Rd corridor each day. Director of transport Mike Seabourne said the estimated cost of the trial without traffic calming, staff costs and a contingency would be about $40,000, down from about $110,000. Drysdale did not want the council to spend more than it had to when there may not be a problem. If the trial created safety issues, then the council could act, he said. Councillor Rod Taylor said: "How many chances of safety do you get? The first thing that might happen is someone gets run over." Tauranga City councillor Rod Taylor. Photo: David Hall / LDR The staff had considered potential safety issues and the "risk is too high", he said. Welcome Bay ward councillor Hautapu Baker said he grew up in the neighbourhood and children from four schools used the area. "I would hate for us to respond to an accident rather than be proactive to prevent something." Councillor Glen Crowther said the road would be closed when children were going to school. Afternoon traffic would be heading out of the city and not using the citybound slip lane much. There were other areas in the city where children were more at risk, he said. The council consulted residents in the directly affected area and found 80% of 92 responses supported a trial reopening, with the rest opposed. Some 78 percent supported traffic calming on Hairini St, with most in favour of speedhumps. Councillors approved the trial reopening with a $40,000 budget. Traffic calming measures would be installed if required once the trial began. Once the trial was complete residents would be surveyed again, and staff would report the trial's results back to the council for a decision on the slip lane's future. - LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Irish Times
15-07-2025
- Irish Times
Gardaí handed out more than 6,000 fines to motorists for unlawful use of bus lanes last year
Gardaí gave out more than 6,000 penalty notices to drivers unlawfully using bus lanes last year, a 28 per cent increase on 2023. Dublin and Cork city had the largest rise in bus lane enforcement last year, with 4,326 fixed-charge penalty notices issued across Dublin Garda regions alone. This is a 34 per cent jump on the 3,217 notices issued across the county the year before. In the first three months of this year, more than 2,100 such penalty notices have been issued across Dublin, signalling potential for a further significant rise in bus lane enforcement this year. Drivers in Cork city were hit with 690 bus lane infringement penalty notices last year, up 34 per cent from 2023 when 515 were given. READ MORE In Limerick, 590 fixed charged penalty notices were issued to drivers unlawfully in bus lanes in 2024, a small increase from 2023's figure of 545. Across the State there were 6,127 fines issued for unlawful parking or driving in bus lanes last year, up from 4,783 in 2023, An Garda Síochána figures showed. In the first three months of this year, gardaí issued 2,663 penalty notices nationwide. A fixed-charge penalty notice allows an alleged offender to pay a fine within a set period to avoid prosecution. A spokeswoman for An Garda Síochána said the 'increases in bus lane enforcement are primarily, as could be expected, in the large urban areas of Dublin, Cork and Limerick'. 'Pro-active policing plans, endeavouring to increase high visibility patrols, has resulted in more policing activity and therefore increases in fixed-charge notices and other summary offences,' she said. In April last year Garda Commissioner Drew Harris issued a directive to all members to conduct 30 minutes of high-visibility roads policing operations during each tour of duty, she said, adding that this approach was based on a Swedish policing model. 'The aim is to increase Garda visibility, which has the effect of moderating driver and road-user behaviour. Increased enforcement is an added benefit,' the spokeswoman said. The 48 fixed charge penalty notices last year issued in Galway last year was a decrease from the 74 in 2023. Laois, Offaly, Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim recorded fewer than 10 fixed charge penalty notices for bus lane infringements in each of 2023 and 2024. Garda 'mobility devices' provided to every member contain an app enabling gardaí to quickly issue fixed-charge notices. In 2024, more than 159,000 such notices were issued on mobility devices for a range of offences. Green Party spokesman on transport, Dublin City councillor Feljin Jose, said the Dublin figures were 'a drop in the ocean when it comes to the actual level of encroachment in bus lanes'. He said further enforcement should not necessarily require gardaí 'standing on every corner' as 'countries around Europe and the US use bus-mounted cameras' that can detect and video vehicles in bus lanes. 'The technology for all of that exists, the legislation should exist, but we're still not getting the implementation,' he said. A Labour councillor for Cork City, John Maher, said the area's figures would be much higher 'with more enforcement'. 'In general, people don't obey the rules of the road when it comes to use of bus lanes', he said. 'While the numbers are improving, they are not a reality of what is happening each day on the ground and we need better enforcement.' Damian Boylan, a Fine Gael councillor in Cork city, said the figures for Cork were evidence of 'active enforcement'. 'That kind of consistent policing is important. For public transport to function properly, the public must understand that blocking bus lanes isn't just an inconvenience to drivers and passengers – it's an offence.' He said he supported the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to 'ensure consistency and reduce over-reliance on gardaí having to be physically present at all times'.
Malay Mail
09-07-2025
- Malay Mail
Police quiz cyclists, driver after clash over blocked bus lane on Kuala Selangor-KL road
SHAH ALAM, July 9 — Police have taken statements from four individuals over last Sunday's altercation between a bus driver and cyclists obstructing a bus lane at Kilometre 23 of the Kuala Selangor–Kuala Lumpur road. Kuala Selangor Police Chief Supt Azaharudin Tajudin said the police had received two reports, one from the bus driver and another from a member of the group of cyclists involved. 'For now, police have recorded statements from four individuals, and no summonses have been issued as the investigation is still ongoing,' he said in a statement today. Yesterday, Azaharudin was reported as saying that police were tracking down a group of cyclists believed to be involved in the incident, which occurred around 9.35am last Sunday near the Batu Arang traffic lights before it went viral on social media. Azaharudin said the case is being investigated under Regulation 42(3) of the Road Traffic Rules 1959 for competitive cycling on the road. — Bernama
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Council still reviewing bus scheme feedback
Feedback on plans for a bus lane is still being reviewed, three months after a consultation on the scheme closed. The proposals, for Sunderland's Chester Road, include creating a bus lane towards the roundabout at the junction with Springwell Road and Holborn Road, instead of previously mooted traffic lights. It is part of the regional Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), funded by the government. A council leaflet detailing the scheme said works were expected to start in the summer and would take about a year. A public consultation on the proposals closed on 5 March and Sunderland City Council said feedback was being reviewed. It has not confirmed when the review will be complete. The proposals also include carriageway widening to allow bus priority and a free-flow bus lane through the A183 Greenwood Road roundabout changes to road markings at Hastings Hill Roundabout and the Grindon Lane junction introducing signals at existing roundabouts at Hastings Hill and Greenwood Road junctions The BSIP aims to improve bus journey times. Proposals have also been developed for the A690 Durham Road. Councillor Lindsey Leonard, cabinet member for environment, transport and net zero said: "The proposals for A183 Chester Road have been subject to consultation with residents and other stakeholders and we are currently reviewing the feedback. "Once this evaluation process is complete, we will update all interested parties with the outcome and next steps." Previous plans for traffic lights at the roundabout at Chester Road, Springwell Road and Holborn Road were not included in the final proposals after modelling showed introducing them would increase delays. The move was criticised by local residents and opposition councillors, who said a bus lane would make traffic worse. Follow BBC Sunderland on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Traffic light plan dropped over delay fears Residents say bus lane will make traffic worse Sunderland City Council
BBC News
10-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Sunderland council still reviewing Chester Road scheme feedback
Feedback on plans for a bus lane is still being reviewed, three months after a consultation on the scheme proposals, for Sunderland's Chester Road, include creating a bus lane towards the roundabout at the junction with Springwell Road and Holborn Road, instead of previously mooted traffic is part of the regional Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), funded by the government.A council leaflet detailing the scheme said works were expected to start in the summer and would take about a year. A public consultation on the proposals closed on 5 March and Sunderland City Council said feedback was being reviewed. It has not confirmed when the review will be proposals also includecarriageway widening to allow bus priority and a free-flow bus lane through the A183 Greenwood Road roundaboutchanges to road markings at Hastings Hill Roundabout and the Grindon Lane junctionintroducing signals at existing roundabouts at Hastings Hill and Greenwood Road junctionsThe BSIP aims to improve bus journey have also been developed for the A690 Durham Lindsey Leonard, cabinet member for environment, transport and net zero said: "The proposals for A183 Chester Road have been subject to consultation with residents and other stakeholders and we are currently reviewing the feedback."Once this evaluation process is complete, we will update all interested parties with the outcome and next steps." Previous plans for traffic lights at the roundabout at Chester Road, Springwell Road and Holborn Road were not included in the final proposals after modelling showed introducing them would increase move was criticised by local residents and opposition councillors, who said a bus lane would make traffic worse. Follow BBC Sunderland on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
