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Tarawera Terrace, St Heliers – Broken Yellow Lines Tarawera Terrace, St Heliers – Broken Yellow Lines

Proposal status: Feedback closed 9 March 2020, last updated 29 April 2020

Reference number: BYL-442

In March 2020 we proposed changes in your area

Our proposal sought to add broken yellow lines (no stopping at all times) restrictions outside 70 and 72 Tarawera Terrace, St Heliers. Our proposal responded to safety concerns from the community about this busy road which has seen an increase in traffic in recent years. Parked cars on the bend outside properties 70 and 72 create a bottleneck affect which narrows the road and reduces the visibility of oncoming traffic. The proposed broken yellow line restrictions are expected to remove this bottleneck and improve driver visibility.

Download the proposal drawing for Tarawera Terrace (PDF 462KB)

Proposal outcome

The broken yellow lines will proceed to the next stage of detailed planning before being painted on the road. Thank you to everyone who responded to our proposal and gave us the chance to better understand your community and concerns. A summary of your feedback and our responses to community questions is below.

Community feedback

  • Respondents request to extend the proposed broken yellow lines to both sides of the proposed location, extend them further along Tarawera Terrace or add intermittent broken yellow lines. When removing parking it is important that we have a justification for doing so. We have to ensure that the availability of parking is balanced with the safe operation of the road. Tarawera Terrace width allows more than the minimum space for emergency vehicles to pass through and the road is not considered too narrow. Moreover, there have been no Police reported crashes over the last 5 years on Tarawera Terrace, which indicates that the road has been operating relatively safely.
    While parked vehicles may reduce the traffic flow on the road, including the section towards Long Drive to a single lane, there are a number of opportunities where opposing vehicles can pass at driveways. These same parked vehicles also discourage drivers from speeding as cars parked on either side of the road give drivers the impression of a narrow road, encouraging greater care when driving. The removal of on-street parking, even on one side of the road, can contribute to increased speeds and speed related crashes.
    For these reasons, we are not able to proceed with request for broken yellow line restriction along other areas of the road.
  • Respondents suggestion to add broken yellow lines on the next bend further along Tarawera Terrace. There are broken yellow lines outside property 52 Tarawera Terrace on the bend in the road. This bend is much wider and has a hatched area on the corner. Further, there have been no police reported crashes over the last 5 years on Tarawera Terrace, which indicates that the road has been operating relatively safely.
  • Respondents concern about access for emergency response vehicles due to parked cars narrowing the road. Tarawera Terrace is approximately 7.2 to 10 metres wide and we consider a street to be narrow if the road is less than 6.5 metres wide. This is the minimum space required for emergency service vehicles to have access. Tarawera Terrace road width allows more than the minimum space for emergency vehicles to pass through.
  • Respondents concern about parked cars reducing visibility especially at the bend in the road and creating a single lane situation along Tarawera Terrace. While parked vehicles may reduce the traffic flow on the road to a single lane, there are a number of opportunities where opposing vehicles can pass at driveways. These same parked vehicles also discourage drivers from speeding as cars parked on either side of the road give drivers the impression of a narrow road, encouraging greater care when driving. Also, Tarawera Terrace is a local road, where vehicles are not expected to be travelling at high speeds, especially when visibility is reduced. Removing parked cars will potentially increase speed.
  • Respondents concern about exit/entrance to driveways due to parked cars along Tarawera Terrace.  Including concerns about blocked driveways and areas with reduced visibility due to steep terrain. Parking within 1 metre of a vehicle crossing or driveway is illegal, and this is clearly outlined in the New Zealand (NZ) Road Code.  All drivers are expected to be aware of the Road Code and may be subject to enforcement action if they park illegally. For this reason, Auckland Transport will only consider installing road markings where there is a regular history of enforcement action which indicates the need to take additional measures.
    While we appreciate this parking behaviour is inconvenient, we do not have any record of previous complaints regarding illegal parking close to this driveway. If you notice a vehicle is parked within one metre of this vehicle crossing and blocking access, please call 09 355 3553 with the details of the vehicle.
  • Respondents suggestion to widen the road by removing the berm. Tarawera Terrace is a local road in a residential area. Removing berm (the grass strip next to the road) to widen the road is not justified for the local road as it will potentially increase traffic flow and speed.
  • Respondents request to trim trees near the road, as they block visibility for road users and create debris on driveways. The trees are on private land and do not create problems near a road or public land. As these trees are on private land, the responsibility of trimming them needs to be sorted between neighbours.
  • Respondents concern about vehicles travelling over 50kmph on this road. We are not aware of any speeding issues on this road and there have been no speeding related crashes. Therefore, we will not take any action at this stage; however, we will continue to monitor this situation.

Next steps

These works are planned between August and October of 2020, but we will let you know if there are further changes or delays.

Our contractors will send notices to affected residents 48-hours prior to construction starting.