Manahi Bray, Aroha Bray, Rowena Rika and Ritihia Yates, 3.
Whenever a truck goes down Tarewa Rd in Rotorua, 85-year-old Manahi Bray says it feels like an earthquake.
And he's not the only one whose body shudders whenever large trucks use their street for a shortcut.
Residents on Tarewa Rd are so fed up, they've put up their own signto tell the drivers they're not welcome.
Their sign says: "Stop coming this way. U R shakin' our road".
But the Rotorua Lakes Council says the road is a public road, which means all vehicles including trucks unless they weigh more than 55 tonnes, are allowed use it. The latest traffic count shows 12.6 heavy vehicles use the street a day.
A speed bump at the Tarewa Pl end of the street and a roundabout at the Kuirau St end of the road has failed to deter the large semi-truck and trailer units from going down their road.
Tarewa Rd residents annoyed about trucks using their road are (from left) Manahi Bray, Aroha Bray, Rowena Rika and Ritihia Yates, 3. Photo / Kelly Makiha
Bray said the trucks can't even go around the roundabout safely, with the latter parts of their vehicles having to go straight over the top.
Rewena Rika, who lives near the roundabout, said the trucks had to slow down for the roundabout and the traffic lights.
"When they put on their brakes, the shuddering goes right through the house."
Aroha Bray said the trucks were mainly coming from the Pukuatua St end to get on to Lake Rd as a way of heading north out of Rotorua quicker.
"Residents are sick of the shaking of their homes happening early in the morning till late at night every day of the week and on the weekends."
She said there were two daycares and a kohanga reo on the street and a lot of geothermal activity on Tarewa Rd, which was a concern given the trucks could be putting unwanted pressure on the ground.
"Residents are getting frightened because of all the recent geothermal activity breaking down in their area, like what happened in Kuirau Park recently."
Aroha Bray said she visited some trucking companies to politely ask them to stop but the problem was continuing.
"The residents have now taken it upon themselves to hire a local artist to develop a sign which is being installed ... Residents are at their wits' end and need the trucking companies to be respectful of their community."
Council deputy chief executive infrastructure and environmental solutions Stavros Michael said all vehicles could use public roads, unless they weighed more than 55 tonnes.
He said improvements were made on Tarewa Rd two years ago including "traffic calming" in the form of a new speed hump and a small roundabout to address concerns with speed and to improve pedestrian safety.
New pavement and surfacing, footpaths, recessed bus stops and car parking were also added.
He said the latest traffic count data from October 21 showed an average daily traffic volume of 3151 vehicles a day with 0.4 per cent of that being heavy vehicles.
The council was open to putting advisory signs in place to help with traffic speed but cannot restrict legally certified vehicles from using the road.
"We will continue to work with the residents to ensure legitimate concerns are heard and any legally enforceable actions are taken when possible."
A Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency spokesperson said the road was managed by the council and everyone had the right to use it, including heavy vehicles.
However, they said the council could reduce heavy vehicle usage if it wanted to through interventions such as road narrowings and road humps, or it could consider creating a "through truck bylaw" or similar designating routes for trucks through the city, which meant it could then enforce it.
The council was asked if it would consider creating a bylaw.
In response, Michael said a number of interventions were put in place two years ago and there were no additional changes planned at this time.
