Rotorua's Bidois Rd and surrounding streets are covered in tyre marks. Photos / Laura Smith
Rotorua residents are sick of their neighbourhood being used as a racetrack, worrying someone will “get really hurt”.
Stop and give way signs and road markings are absent from the Bidois Rd area and there are no plans for speed bumps.
One local says, “Anything would help.”
The council says it is working with limited budgets and resources and the national transport agency says speed bumps can be ineffective against “blatant disregard for the law”.
Two residents spoke to Local Democracy Reporting about their concerns on the condition they were not identified.
The racetrack, as they called it, went down Bidois Rd, and adjoining streets such as Tapsell, Neil and Walker roads.
Bidois joins State Highway 5, Fairy Springs Rd.
One of the residents described the area as close-knit, with lots of families and elderly.
She told her children if they heard any cars start to skid they were to come inside immediately.
A young driver lost control and crashed through her fence at 8pm about two weeks ago. The children had not long gone inside.
In October, she and other residents rushed to see the cause of a loud bang at night and found a car upside down in the creek after it “hit the kerb”.
The road was quiet while Local Democracy Reporting spoke with the pair.
The other resident said this changed when it rained and neared the weekend.
“Someone’s going to get really hurt.”
She believed boy-racer types came for “huge burnouts” on the wide and unmarked roads.
“After rain, it’s like Meremere raceway, we call it.”
She said something happened nearly every day.
“It’s about safety. It’s someone’s child.”
The resident paid about $198 a week in rates and wanted something done - preferably a new speed bump but also road markings and stop or give way signs.
“Anything would help.”
The resident’s mother-in-law first asked the council for help about 20 years ago, she said.
She explained this and outlined her concerns in an email to Mayor Tania Tapsell in January.
This included her understanding the council agreed to put speed bumps a few years ago but it was shelved during the pandemic.
Tapsell responded that Bidois Rd was a priority for traffic calming measures but residents were told timing would depend on money.
“Unfortunately due to the very financially challenging times we’re experiencing, there is no current budget within council for traffic calming projects.
“This is largely due to central Government priorities which have affected what subsidies [NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi] provides to local councils and how these can be used.”
Tapsell said the council relied on this funding and took on community feedback about reducing spending and keeping rates affordable.
Funding for these projects was therefore delayed for three years.
“It’s important to note that traffic calming measures are generally used to reduce speed and by themselves are unlikely to influence irresponsible behaviour.”
She knew it was not the immediate outcome the residents wanted but community safety was a top priority for the council that was working with limited resources.
A council spokesperson said it received requests for traffic calming almost weekly.
There were requests for 118 local roads and it operated a priority list based on assessed risk.
Scores were based on factors such as traffic volume and type, recorded vehicle speeds, reported speed-related crashes/injuries and proximity to community facilities such as schools and halls.
If measures are warranted, the council decided what type is appropriate.
Bidois Rd was assessed in 2021.
It is second on the priority list and no design work or consultation has started.
The council has previously done about one project a year.
The spokesperson described the Bidois Rd area as a “typical residential area with low traffic volumes” that did not require line marking.
Uncontrolled intersections were generally used in these areas and normal give way rules apply.
Marking a road with give way lines would cost about $100-$200. A new stop or give way sign would likely be about $300 to $500, they said.
Converting it from uncontrolled to controlled “is not necessary” and would likely “have little, if any, impact on the behaviour of boy racers as they present no physical obstacle”.
Speed bumps generally cost between $8000 and $15,000.
The spokesperson said traffic calming measures aimed to slow excessive traffic speed, not to prevent irresponsible driver behaviour. It was important to report illegal driving behaviour to the police.
The council had received three calls from one person requesting traffic calming measures on Bidois Rd since May 2023.
An NZTA spokesperson said these measures can reduce traffic speeds but often proved “ineffective where the issue is blatant disregard for the law and road rules designed for public safety”.
Increased police presence and/or enforcement may work best to discourage dangerous driving, they said.
The Government’s current strategy is focused on road growth and travel time improvements.
Rotorua National Party MP Todd McClay said boy racers were a menace and “a real threat to local residents and themselves”.
He would raise the Bidois Rd resdients’ concerns with new Transport Minister Chris Bishop as well as the police minister to “see what additional tools or laws might be considered to stop boy racers”, including easier vehicle and licence confiscation.
Rotorua road policing manager Senior Sergeant Steven Shaw said police worked hard to combat anti-social road-user behaviour.
“We ask drivers to consider your own safety and the safety of the community when thinking about engaging in this activity. The last thing we want to do is have to tell your parents, friends or loved ones you have died or been seriously injured due to one poor choice. ”
Call 111 if it is happening now, or you can make a report after the fact through the 105 service.
To share anonymously, call Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
Laura Smith is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. She previously reported general news for the Otago Daily Times and Southland Express, and has been a journalist since 2019.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
