Residents getting frustrated with speed of large trucks on No 1 Rd

Colin Cooper has put a sign up on No 1 Rd urging truck drivers to slow down.

Residents of the lower part of No 1 Rd are becoming increasingly frustrated at the condition of the road, the speed of traffic and the shaking of their houses when trucks drive past.

One couple, Colin and Lorna Cooper, have even put up a home made sign urging truck drivers to slow down.

The sign was put up in April.

''We had had enough,'' says Lorna.

Their daughter from Auckland was staying with them and working from home.

''She was horrified. She thought we were having a major earthquake.''

Put up with no fanfare, Colin says the sign had an immediate effect.

''The neighbours were asking us, 'did we do it?', because they could feel the difference,'' he says.

Not all drivers take notice, and some toot as they drive by.

Colin says the condition of the road is a ''real bug bear'' for a lot of their neighbours.

He says there is a long history of poorly executed repairs.

''You can clearly see areas that have been patched over and then its sinking again. The road gets hammered,'' he says. ''And the trucks are getting bigger and bigger.''

Many of the trucks are driving to and from Trevelyan's packhouse further up No 1 Rd.

''Trevelyan's are good ethically and treat staff well, but they have been allowed to expand and the council hasn't taken account of the fact that it is a country road,'' says Lorna.

''The bad season has gone now, but we will get more as avocados come into season, but during kiwifruit [season], it was diabolical how this house shook.''

A sharp depression in the road outside the Coopers' house has been earmarked for repair during the first two weeks of this month.

Lorna spoke about the issues at the last Te Puke Community Board and also at the most recent Maketū-Te Puke Wward Forum.

She said she had spoken to Trevelyan's who have in turn written to the trucking companies and spoken to drivers.

Trevelyan's Pack and Cool owner/managing director James Trevelyan has since confirmed discussing the issues with the trucking companies and says he welcomes feedback from
residents.

''We are a noisy neighbour, but not all those trucks obviously pertain to us - there's a lot of orchards up and down the road and fruit is disappearing off elsewhere.''

He says tooting horns was one complaint.

''We are pretty connected to all the trucking contractors so that request went out - please do it with a wave rather than a toot - and the other was was speed - just slow down.''

Another resident, Helen Potter, also spoke at the most recent ward forum.

She said she had first spoken about the problems at a Te Puke Community Board meeting in 2017 asking for a speed limit review.

At the ward forum she said the road needs resurfacing and, while she recognised that was not going to happen over night, she reiterated her request for a speed limit reduction.

''The house is four years old and we have trucks going by that wake us at 4 in the morning and my bed moves because of the rumble of trucks, pictures on the wall don't stay straight and the timber cracks when trucks go by,'' she said.

Western Bay of Plenty mayor Garry Webber told Helen there would be a review of the district's speed limits ''in the next couple of months''.

As part of the Waiāri Water Supply Scheme, a water pipe is currently being laid along a large stretch of the road.

The district council's infrastructure services manager Gary Allis says the council is planning to carry out improvements on two lengths of No 1 Rd over the next three
years.

''The first section of the road improvement by Western Bay of Plenty District Council is planned between No 29 to No 90.

''The work has been scheduled for this construction season (October-May 2020/2021) and it is proposed to include pavement renewal with a new shared cycleway/footpath alongside in the road berm.

''However the work is subject to the timing of the Tauranga City Council Waiāri water pipeline installation."

The water main installation has been delayed by Covid-19 and the lower section of No 1 Rd is yet to be constructed.

''Residents of No 1 Rd from numbers 29 to 90 will be invited to a roadside consultation meeting once the draft designs are complete.''

He says the second section of No 1 Rd, the section from No 90 to Trevelyan's packhouse, is being designed with pavement renewal, seal widening and a new shared cycleway/footpath in the berm. This is planned to for the 2021/22 construction season.

''Construction timing will be programmed once the designs have been completed and the costs known. Residents of No 1 Rd on this section will be invited to a future roadside consultation meeting once the draft designs for this section are complete.''