Concerns for pedestrian safety on Kāeo bridge footpath

Whangaroa member for the Bay of Islands-Whangaroa Community Board, Bruce Mills, says something needs to be done to improve pedestrian safety on Kaeo's Waikare Creek Bridge. Photo / Myjanne Jensen

A dangerously narrow bridge in the middle of Kāeo township is 'an accident waiting to happen' say locals.

The two-lane Waikare Creek Bridge on State Highway 10 is located right in the heart of Kāeo, outside the Kāeo FourSquare and opposite the Kāeo Memorial Hall.

The bridge is about five to six metres wide, with only one of the bridge's two footpaths wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair or pram.

Apart from SH1 through Mangamuka Gorge, the road through Kāeo is the only other way to travel North from Kerikeri and beyond.

This means there is often a high volume of traffic at peak times, including logging trucks, passing over the bridge.

Bruce Mills, the member for Whangaroa on the Bay of Islands-Whangaroa Community Board, said he'd been campaigning for years to get an upgrade of the bridge or to create a whole new bridge away from the highway.

He said despite numerous conversations with authorities, his concerns for pedestrian safety had fallen on deaf ears.

"Why does it have to take someone potentially dying here before anyone will listen?" Mills said.

"I have tried again and again to ask Waka Kotahi-NZTA to do something, yet no one has taken my concerns any further.

"Just the other day I saw school children walking over the bridge and one accidentally fell onto the road. They were lucky no one was driving past.

"Even mothers with their pushchairs walking over the bridge often have to shelter their children as large trucks drive by, it's frightening."

Local Harold Paul has lived in Kāeo most of his life and regularly passes over the bridge in his daily activities.

Paul uses a wheelchair and said he couldn't utilise one side of the bridge as the footpath was too narrow and would likely end with him falling onto the road.

While speaking to Paul for this story, the Northland Age witnessed a large truck pass him on the bridge, coming uncomfortably close to his chair.

"I have to be really careful the way I use this footpath because I have fallen over a bit further down the road near Turner St," Paul said.

"I get frightened crossing here, so I make sure there are no cars coming before I cross over.

Bruce Mills with Harold Paul at the entrance of the Waikare Creek Bridge footpath, less than a meter away from a truck as it passes by. Photo / Myjanne Jensen

"It always gives me the jitters."

According to Mills, the community board together with placemaking expert David Enright, worked on alternative bridge designs for the area a few years ago upon the advice of Far North District Council.

Mills alleges the community paid for their own workshops, which came up with the design of a community platform that could be used as a bridge and meeting area all-in-one.

In spite of their efforts, Mills said Far North District Council told the group there wasn't the budget to support their ideas.

"No one has taken any interest in our concerns, even when we have put together a strategic plan in front of the council, it doesn't attract any urgency," Mills said.

"We've already done the groundwork, but there seems to be a lack of commitment from both the council and Waka Kotahi NZTA.

"I've just been told this is not on the agenda for at least the next three years, but that's not good enough.

"If this doesn't get fixed soon, someone will get hurt or killed - I'm amazed it hasn't already happened."

Far North District councillor and Infrastructure Committee chairwoman Felicity Foy said while the Taipa and Kāeo bridges were a good start, Waka Kotahi NZTA needed to invest more in Northland's road infrastructure.

"Northland has had such a population surge, we need more investment to reflect the current growth and to allow for inevitable future growth," Foy said.

"It's a real kick in the teeth for Waka Kotahi NZTA to propose slowing down the speed for all Northland state highways to 80km, and then to have this extremely old and dangerous infrastructure still in place."

Moving forward, Foy said she would like to see the agency recognise investment in small regional towns located on busy state highways as worthy of safety improvement investment, and safety measures such as pedestrian crossings and connectivity made a priority.

"Waka Kotahi NZTA did some good work previously with township plans for some Northland towns, but because no budgets were approved to give effect to the works outlined, it just got the hopes up of local residents that progress for their towns would happen," Foy said.

"In my view, regional townships are just as worthy of investment as the metro centres and it's time Waka Kotahi-NZTA fronted up with their cheque book to make these township plans a reality."

Waka Kotahi NZTA Tāmaki Makaurau me Te Tai Tokerau - maintenance and operations regional manager Jacqui Hori-Hoult said the safety of those using New Zealand roads was paramount and would investigate what short-term solutions could be put in place on-site at the existing bridge to assist with pedestrian safety.

"Waka Kotahi, along with our partners at FNDC and the Northland Transport Alliance, have been involved in the very early concept stages of the community's proposal for a new footbridge in Kaeo town centre," Hori-Hoult said.

"Our involvement to date has included safety, bridge and network specialist input and reviews of the community's initial designs.

"All requests for infrastructure upgrades or new infrastructure follow a formal process. This starts with the project being formally acknowledged by the appropriate local authority as a priority.

"Once priority status is given to a project Waka Kotahi NZTA then has the green light to assist in developing a business case and can investigate potential funding options available.

"We can confirm this process has not yet been actioned, however, we are more than happy to work with our partners to do so."