Mount Maunganui Links Ave forklift crash victim and residents want safety barriers removed

The Links Ave crash scene where Michael Gerbes' forklift hit a concrete cycle lane separator on August 5. Photo / Sandra Conchie

A badly injured forklift driver and upset residents and road users are demanding nearly three dozen concrete cycle lane separators be removed from Mount Maunganui’s Links Ave.

They spoke out after the forklift driver struck one of the safety barriers and others had near misses, with one describing the 32 separators as a ‘‘traffic hazard’'.

The Tauranga City Council says it installed the cycle lane separators as part of the Links Ave Safety Improvements project between April and June this year to make it safer for students cycling and walking.

Michael Gerbes, 41, sustained serious leg injuries after his forklift struck one near Links Avenue Reserve on August 5 and tipped over. His right leg was pinned under the machine.

Gerbes, recovering at home after surgery at Tauranga Hospital, is waiting to hear if he needs another operation.

He has called for these cycle separators to be removed to prevent a similar accident.

The Links Ave accident scene where forklift driver Michael Gerbes was pinned under the machine. Photo / Sandra Conchie

Residents and road users spoke to the Bay of Plenty Times on the condition they were not named.

Two residents, among a group of 10 rescuers who came to Gerbes’ aid, also want the structures removed.

One believed the separators were “doing more harm than good”. A vehicle hit one near her home last month.

“Oh my God, if the injured forklift driver had hit his head, the outcome could have been a lot worse,” she said.

Another resident told the Bay of Plenty Times he knew of several vehicles hitting these “lumps of concrete” and of numerous “near-misses”.

The man believed they were “fast becoming a traffic hazard” and needed to go or at least be replaced by something more flexible such as the rubber-mounted safety markers used on state highways.

A Concord Ave resident said he narrowly avoided hitting the same concrete separator two weeks before Gerbes’ accident.

“It’s hard to see at night and due to the road being quite narrow in parts, it’s easy to miss seeing them during peak-hour traffic.”

Taupo Ave resident Tami Riddy said she regularly rode her bike on Links Ave and believed the separators “did not add anything” to cyclist safety.

A Berwick Ave resident who regularly rides his bike on Links Ave is calling for the concrete cycle lane separators to be removed. Photo / Sandra Conchie

Another Links Ave cyclist, who has lived in the area for 37 years, said he also wanted them removed.

“I’ve also seen adult cyclists heading in opposing directions using the same cycle lanes and others riding on footpaths to avoid being hit. In my view, there is no need for so many cycle lanes on this road, and all these cycle separators need to go.”

There were blackish tyre marks on some of the cycle separators on August 13.

One of the tyre-marked concrete cycle separators in Links Ave. Photo / Sandra Conchie

Mount Maunganui Ratepayers, Residents and Retailers Association president Michael O’Neill said the separators should be urgently removed.

“It would be far better to install share-with-care pathways similar to those in Ngatai Rd and along Marine Parade.’'

Mount Maunganui Ratepayers, Residents and Retailers Association president Michael O'Neill. Photo / Alex Cairns

Council network safety and sustainability manager Karen Hay said 32 cycle separators costing $65,183 were installed on Links Ave between April and June to make it safer for students. NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi paid just over half the bill.

Hay said the separators offered riders a “high level of protection”.

She said the Links Ave safety project followed community feedback about student safety and an independent Links Ave safety review.

Hay said that during the consultation students shared concerns about the unprotected cycle lane, noting cars often crossed into it, and several near-misses that could have led to serious incidents had been reported in the area.

The council worked with the Links Ave Community Panel to implement changes which also included improved pedestrian crossing facilities, relocation of bus stops, and traffic calming measures, she said,

Hay said the council had received five complaints about the visibility of the separators and the potential hazard for vehicles.

“We acknowledge residents’ concerns about some vehicles hitting the cycle separators. While these separators are relatively new to Tauranga, having also been installed in Ngatai Rd and State Highway 2 to the Wairoa Bridge, they are widely used nationally and internationally to protect cyclists and supported by significant research.”

In response to residents’ concerns, the council had “committed” to improving the visibility of the cycle separators by painting the end white and adding some extra reflectors at key locations, and would continue to engage with the police on this matter.

Senior Sergeant Wayne Hunter, head of Western Bay of Plenty’s road policing team, said the cause of Gerbes’ accident was still being investigated.

He said there were no complaints to the police about the separators but he would raise the issue with the council at the next joint roading network meeting.

Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She covers mainly police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.