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A section of Leigh Road in Whangateau will be widened by Auckland Transport (AT) this year in a bid to stop trucks cutting a corner by driving over the footpath, thanks to budget savings on two existing Rodney Local Board (RLB) projects.
Members heard last month that almost $260,000 had been saved in the board’s 2025/26 transport capital fund, after road improvements in Helensville and Huapai came in under budget.
During a combined update on the capital fund and the board’s transport targeted rate (TTR), AT programme director Graeme Gunthorp recommended spending much of the shortfall on widening Leigh Road on the left-hand bend between Whangateau Domain and the cemetery.
“The community has raised safety concerns regarding heavy vehicles mounting the kerb and riding over the footpath while turning at this bend at 498 Leigh Road,” he said.
As well as widening the road itself, some retaining works on the adjoining bank would be required, he added.
Board members also voted to approve a contingency plan to install driver feedback signs as a traffic calming measure in Falls Road, Hill Street and Mansel Drive in Warkworth. However, this will only go ahead if further cost savings of around $50,000 can be found from the fund.
Gunthorp added that AT was taking over funding to replace unpopular clay pavers in Rodney Street, Wellsford. After years of lobbying by locals – and many slips, trips and falls by pedestrians – AT committed to replacing the pavers with concrete in March, but only if it was funded from the TTR.
However, having completed the first tranche with the remaining $330,000 in Wellsford’s TTR fund, Gunthorp said last month AT would take over the next stage.
“We will fund and deliver another tranche of footpath replacements in Wellsford, the clay pavers, to a roughly equal value of the local board investment last financial year,” he said.
Bus trial
The AT update also included a report on the first year of Warkworth’s 999 loop bus service trial, which is being funded by the Rodney TTR for two years.
A series of graphs showed that the number of passenger boardings per week had ranged from just under 200 up to a peak of more than 500, with most weeks seeing between 300 and 400.
The most frequent passengers were SuperGold cardholders, accounting for just over a third of all journeys, and the most popular stops were Percy/Baxter Street, Mahurangi College and Summerset Falls.
Warkworth member Tim Holdgate said the update was appreciated, but the graphs were “very thin in terms of numbers” and he’d like to see some financial data, as well as the likelihood of AT taking on the service when the trial period finished.
RLB’s Michelle Carmichael asked if some of the TTR money could be used to promote the loop service, and also suggested renaming the Albert Street stop ‘Warkworth Primary School’ to encourage use by students.
Gunthorp said he would need to consult the bus investment team and come back with a report.
He added that, following boundary changes, a reallocation of TTR revenue would be needed after the local elections between the five new RLB subdivisions.
At present, Warkworth has $1.74 million of TTR that has yet to be allocated.
