Frustrated residents of Osprey Drive in Welcome Bay, Tauranga want a speed bump removed due to vibrations likened to magnitude five “earthquakes” inside their houses.

Locals contacted the Bay of Plenty Times after a story last month about residents of Levers Rd, Matua, whose shaking complaints led to the Tauranga City Council levelling a months-old raised pedestrian crossing.

Kay Burrows said she and her partner had lived on Osprey Drive nearly 11 years and wanted a nearby bump removed.

The bump has a cutout in the middle to allow heavy vehicles and bikes to pass unaffected, and can also be called speed cushions.

But Burrows said many vehicles – “mainly buses” – failed to slow down to the signposted 25km/h or correctly line their back wheels up to miss the bumps.

She said their house vibrated like it was being hit by “mini earthquakes” numerous times a day when buses “thumped” down the 50km/h road.

“A couple of weekends ago, the shaking was so bad it felt like a five on the Richter scale. I’ve been through the Edgecumbe earthquake so I know what that feels like,” Burrows said.

As well as the noise disruption. their home had developed small cracks on the outside and hairline cracks inside. They “constantly worried” about the damage.

“We have started asking drivers to [slow down] because our house is shaking so much.”

They and their neighbours were “fed up” with having their complaints to the council and bus companies seemingly brushed aside.

“We’ve had apologies but little action and we’ve waited a very long time for a resolution. We just want this speed bump gone.

“The council ripped out the raised table crossing in Matua, so I don’t see why our speed bump cannot be removed for our identical problem.”

Another Osprey Drive resident, Meg Savill, said she had complained multiple times to the council’s transport team and the bus companies over the same issues.

She said buses “flew over the speed hump” and when the back end thumped down it caused the “whole ground to shake” and earthquake-like tremors inside the home she shared with her husband.

“We’re having multiple earthquakes and probably up to 50 after-shocks a day. I was raised in Paekākāriki on an earthquake fault line, so I know what mini-earthquakes feel like. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know if your house is moving multiple times a day, there’s going to be some damage.”

Pictures had fallen off the walls and paintwork was cracked in three rooms.

“We want this issue sorted. It’s not just us, it’s our neighbours. These speed bumps have got to go.”

Several other Welcome Bay residents posted comments on social media about homes shaking as buses and heavy vehicles hit speed bumps in Victory St, Welcome Bay Rd and Waikite Rd.

Noise, vibration should be ‘minimal’ - council

The Tauranga City Council acting manager of safety and sustainability, Karen Hay, said the council empathised with residents experiencing noise and vibration issues, which could “impact greatly” on wellbeing.

Hay said speed cushions were installed on Osprey Drive in 2007 to slow drivers and discourage them from rat-running to avoid congestion and speed-calming measures on main roads.

Hay said the 25km/h signposted speed for the bumps was not enforceable but recommended for passenger comfort and avoiding vehicle wear and tear.

She said the council was talking to the residents and a senior transport safety team member visited last week and saw buses not using the speed cushions correctly.

“The cushions are positioned for buses to drive over with minimal noise and vibration – the wheels should not need to mount them.”

The team would work with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, which operates the public bus network, and bus companies to educate drivers as a first step.

“We’ll monitor the situation, and if the problem continues, there are other options in our toolkit, including using cameras to monitor speeds and testing vibration levels."

Removing speed calming measures was only considered when the noise and vibration levels breached “acceptable standards”.

Operators asked to remind drivers

Regional council public transport director Ollie Haycock confirmed it had received complaints about this issue, and bus operators had been encouraged to remind drivers to be mindful of the speed cushions on Osprey Drive and respect the 25km/h advisory speed.

Haycock encouraged residents to keep providing direct feedback about bus service-related concerns, including specific details such as the time, date and bus number.

“The regional council is committed to ensuring a comfortable and safe experience for our passengers and the communities our buses serve.”

A spokesman for Kinetic, which is contracted by the regional council for urban bus services, said the council had raised the Osprey Drive residents’ speed bump concerns.

“All our bus drivers are well-trained and required to adhere to all laws of the road, this includes all speed limits.

“Additionally, all our buses are equipped with GPS tracking to monitor our drivers’ performance and ensure compliance,” he said.

Uzabus company director Justin Allan said there were no records of complaints about its buses travelling over the speed humps on this road, and it was unaware of drivers being spoken to.

“The traffic hump on Osprey Drive in question is at the top of a steep incline, which would limit the speed a bus could be travelling; and when reviewing GPS records, I can see the buses are travelling between 26km/h and 32km/h at the time they meet the speed hump.”

-Bay of Plenty Times.