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.”
10 comments
Good enough for matua
Posted on 11-11-2024 07:57 | By nug
Fair call .they are a waste of time ...can't see a issue with removing them in welcome bay ...or are more "up market" areas prioritized ....think we all no the answer to this
These damned…
Posted on 11-11-2024 08:34 | By Shadow1
…speed humps are a curse on our roads. The speed cushions do nothing for the average motorist but allow buses, trucks and motorcycles to speed through? The rest of us have to put up with the bloody things. If speeding cars are a problem, it’s the job of the Police to punish the offenders.
Why do pedestrian crossings have to be on a hump when they are highly visible anyway?
There is a relatively new hump on Maungatapu Road, a long way from the school. It is unusually high and seems to surprise heaps of motorists. If it is designed to draw attention to the school it is overly dangerous and covers the full road width. What is wrong with painted rumble strips? They are cheap and effective and can be limited to one side of the road.
Shadow1.
Hmmm
Posted on 11-11-2024 09:21 | By Howbradseesit
Have a feel for Kingswood Road people who have a ridiculous 6 of them on a 700m stretch. Thaks Council for your awesome work on this. Can we send you the bill for our worn brake pads and suspension?
Humps in the wrong place
Posted on 11-11-2024 10:03 | By Stephen_With
In my opinion and as a bus driver myself the humps are in the wrong place they're on corners which make it difficult even for a bus driver to line up the gaps properly if they are put on a straight piece of Road then not so bad.
Really?
Posted on 11-11-2024 10:37 | By Naysay
To have to ask to have these removed is unacceptable. Of course they affect homes and residents more so they would not be required if you had planned traffic management. It's a really shocking way to treat your ratepayers.
Council out of control
Posted on 11-11-2024 11:28 | By an_alias
Whoever came up with placing these on main roads should be fired in opinion.
Remove them ALL
fed up with speed humps and large buses
Posted on 11-11-2024 13:54 | By somebody
Speed bumps are horrendous, should never have been put in at all - none of them! For years we have had pedestrian crossings just painted on and now apparently that is not good enough! Come on its just another way to waste ratepayers money - and the ridiculous fact - it's probably going to cost just as much to get rid of them - I vote for getting rid of them ALL and don't get me started on the sharp incline of them. Sick and tired big buses trying to turn into small streets and we have no speed bumps on our street, but the house has cracks also in every room - the only thing that makes me feel safe is that it's a 40-year-old house and if it was going to fall down would have done so by now. Ever heard of smaller buses?
Hmmm
Posted on 11-11-2024 18:02 | By Let's get real
Lots of very similar comments and all are missing the core issue.
Council roading "experts" are solely driven to reduce accidents. Particularly fatal accidents. That is the sole goal. Stationary traffic and slow moving traffic makes them appear to be actually achieving something, as it reduces their sole performance metric... accidents.
Why put in more unfazed traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, speed "calming" measures and roundabouts otherwise.
We all squeal about the road toll (most of which is on open roads) and this is used to justify the measures being imposed.
speed limit?
Posted on 11-11-2024 20:09 | By Duegatti
If the speed limit is 50, why are there devices requiring a vehicle to slow below that?
This is just more anti car BS.
If 50 is too fast, which it isn't, why put obstructions in the road?
It's time councils obeyed the teachings if St Simeon the Wise.
Speed bumps been there for years
Posted on 12-11-2024 21:21 | By P Tapsell
These particular bumps have been there for years and they actually do slow people down. Some people come speeding up Osprey and need to be slowed down.
Maybe just talk to and train the bus drivers to slow down at the bumps. I'd rather we the ratepayers didn't have to foot the bill for their removal.
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