Royal Oak Roundabout - Walking and Cycling

David Harton made this Official Information request to Auckland Transport

The request was successful.

From: David Harton

Dear Auckland Transport,

I refer to the project to upgrade the Royal Oak Roundabout.

Please provide the comments by the walking and cycling subject experts made when reviewing the conceptual design of this roundabout. This refers to the design circulated within AT for comments to be incorporated into the design which was published for consultation recently.
If these experts were not consulted please explain why.
If these comments were not incorporated into the design please explain why.

Thanks a lot.

Yours faithfully,
Dave Harton

Link to this

From: AT Official Information (AT)
Auckland Transport

Dear David,

We acknowledge receipt of your request for official information dated 30 September 2019 regarding Royal Oak Roundabout.

We are processing your request according to the provisions of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987. You will receive a decision within 20 working days after the receipt of your request by Auckland Transport, as required by the Act. The expected due date for a decision is XXXX. Please note this is the maximum response time and we will endeavour to respond to you sooner.

If you have any further queries, please contact us on (09) 355 3553 during business hours, quoting Local Government Official Information request number CAS-1168474-Z7R4Z6.

Kind regards,
Simran | Customer Liaison Specialist
Auckland Transport
Private Bag 92250, Auckland 1142
P 09 355 3553 | E [email address] or [email address]
www.at.govt.nz

show quoted sections

Link to this

From: AT Official Information (AT)
Auckland Transport

Kia ora David 

 

I’m the LGOIMA Business Partner who’s looking into your official
information request

My name is Cameron and I’m a LGOIMA Business Partner at Auckland
Transport. I’m responsible for looking into the official information
request you made on 30/09/2019.

We are in the approval stage and estimate the information will be ready by
8 November 2019.

You are able to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this
decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
[1]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
 

If you need to provide us with more information relevant to your request
or you have any questions, simply reply to this email leaving the subject
line as it is. We’ll make sure this information is added to your case.

 

 

Ngā mihi

Cameron 

LGOIMA Business Partner 

Auckland Transport

20 Viaduct Harbour Avenue, Auckland 1010

[2]www.at.govt.nz

 

Important notice: The contents of this email and any attachments may be
confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you have received this
email message in error please notify us immediately and erase all copies
of the message and attachments; any use, disclosure or copying of this
message or attachments is prohibited. Any views expressed in this email
may be those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the
views of Auckland Transport.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
2. http://www.at.govt.nz/

Link to this

David Harton left an annotation ()

Complaint to Ombudsman submitted 12/11/2019.
AT was to provide a delayed response by 8th November, and as this was not done a complaint was submitted.

Link to this

From: AT Official Information (AT)
Auckland Transport


Attachment Active modes Responses from internal stakeholders Engineers response 2018.pdf
106K Download View as HTML

Attachment Active modes Responses from internal stakeholders Engineers response 20190805.pdf
150K Download View as HTML

Attachment Auckland Transport CAS 1168474 Z7R4Z6.pdf
187K Download View as HTML

Attachment Email Correspondence LGOIMA CAS 1168474 Z7R4Z6.pdf
781K Download View as HTML

Attachment MIP1718 235 drawing.pdf
3.7M Download View as HTML


Kia ora David 

I’ve attached the official information you asked for

Please find: 

* Auckland Transport - CAS-1168474-Z7R4Z6
* Active modes Responses from internal stakeholders - Engineers response
20190805
* Active modes Responses from internal stakeholders - Engineers response
2018
* Email Correspondence - LGOIMA - CAS-1168474-Z7R4Z6
* MIP1718-235 drawing

I would like to take the time to apologies for the lack of communication
and any confusion my previous decision email may have caused.
The wording on my decision email was not clear and should have stated
"Your request has been approved and we are collating the information. We
estimate that it will be ready for release on the 8 November".
Sadly, the time frame was underestimated and I should have followed up
with an update. Apologies once again for any frustrations this may have
caused.

Should you believe that we have not dealt with your request appropriately,
you are able to make a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman in
accordance with section 27(3) of the LGOIMA Act and seek an investigation
and review in regard to this matter. You can contact the Ombudsman at
[1]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.

 

Ngā mihi

Cameron 

LGOIMA Business Partner 

Auckland Transport

20 Viaduct Harbour Avenue, Auckland 1010

[2]www.at.govt.nz

Important notice: The contents of this email and any attachments may be
confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you have received this
email message in error please notify us immediately and erase all copies
of the message and attachments; any use, disclosure or copying of this
message or attachments is prohibited. Any views expressed in this email
may be those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the
views of Auckland Transport.

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/www.ombudsman.parliament.nz
2. file:///tmp/www.at.govt.nz

Link to this

David Harton left an annotation ()

I am very unhappy with the response:
- There is missing information (A report regarding cycling safety is missing)
- There are inconsistencies, the official response states that cycling safety will come with connected journeys, whereas there is a statement that no cycleways are planned
- Apart from the missing report cycling is not mentioned once in the response. I did a text search in all documents and NOTHING
I will add this all to my existing complaint to the ombudsman

Link to this

From: David Harton

Dear AT Official Information (AT),
Thank you very much for the response, however this appears to be incomplete, in particular I require the following documents from :
• The attachment from Brittany Morgan mentioned in emails (“A” below)
• Documentation of the decision not to include cycling safety in the design of the roundabout (“B” below)
• Missing table row (first row only provided) from Walking & Cycling Planning (“C” below)

There appears to be inconsistencies in the response, in that email from Winston Gee “...We do not have plans for cycleways in this area in the near future.” This conflicts with the statement in the official response, ie “Given that this intersection is likely to be part of the proposed Auckland Cycle Network, it was agreed that it is best to proceed with the interim safety measures to deal with the immediate safety risk at this intersection.”

We also require the reasons that there was no feedback at all in any of the documents specifically mentioning cycling-related issues with the roundabout design, with one exception, ie the report from Brittany Morgan that was not included (“A” above). In fact cycling was not mentioned a single time except in relation to the missing report.

Specific References:

Document - Auckland Transport CAS 1168474 Z7R4Z6.pdf
Quoting:
“Consultation was undertaken twice over the project lifetime with relevant experts representing cycling and walking modes.”
“This resulted in further discussion and optioneering to ensure this interim safety measure is
aligned with the upcoming Connected Communities programme which is a longer-term integrated corridor initiative with the aim to improve people moving capacity, safety and support transport choices...”
“There were also discussions on whether further cycle infrastructure should be provided now, leading into the intersection and at the intersection. Given that this intersection is likely to be part of the proposed Auckland Cycle Network, it was agreed that it is best to proceed with the interim safety measures to deal with the immediate safety risk at this intersection. The longer-term solutions proposed through the future Connected Communities programme would provide the wider cycling solutions that integrate along the corridor and align with the outcomes of the Auckland Cycle Network.”

B – we require the information that documents this decision, particularly from walking and cycling

Document - Active modes Responses from internal stakeholders Engineers response 2018.pdf
Walking & Cycling Specialist row from the table - no mention of cycling at all in this document.

Walking & Cycling Planning- only the title of the row appears in the document

C – Please include the missing row in this table

Document - Active modes Responses from internal stakeholders Engineers response 20190805.pdf

Design Standards - Active Modes - no mention of cycling in the response

Document - Re_Royal Oak RBT.pdf

“From: Alan Meharry (AT)
To: Winston Gee (AT)
Subject: Re: Royal Oak RBT
Date: Wednesday, 18 July 2018 20:56:51
Hi Winston
...We do not have plans for cycleways in this area in the near future.
Alan”

“From: Winston Gee (AT)
Sent: Friday, 13 July 2018 5:53 p.m.
To: Alan Meharry (AT) <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Royal Oak RBT
Hi Alan,
Attached is the safety review of the Royal Oak roundabout. Please note the cycling-related
suggestions in the report.”

A – Missing report

Yours sincerely,

David Harton

Link to this

From: AT Official Information (AT)
Auckland Transport


Attachment image001.jpg
4K Download

Attachment image002.jpg
0K Download

Attachment image003.jpg
0K Download

Attachment image004.jpg
1K Download

Attachment image005.jpg
1K Download

Attachment image006.jpg
1K Download

Attachment RoyalOakSafetyReview v1 redacted.pdf
4.2M Download View as HTML


Hi David,

 

Thanks for the email.

I spoke with the business unit and addressed the points below:

 

    • The attachment from Brittany Morgan mentioned in emails (“A” below)

               This report is now attached. Apologies in missing this,
this needed reading through the correspondence.

               The safety review does mention recommendations for cycling
infrastructure, however no indication of these are provided in Appendix E
(concept with recommendation markups).

 

    • Documentation of the decision not to include cycling safety in the
design of the roundabout (“B” below)

               The documentation of this is covered in the consultation
with the engineer’s feedback – which has been provided, and related to my
comments on the next point.

As mentioned in the response, this project is identified on a connected
communities route with intent for long-term integrated corridor
improvements. Because of this, the proposal’s intent is to be an interim
treatment.  It will improve safety for all vulnerable road users, buy
lowering entry and exit speeds, and providing enhanced pedestrian priority
at the crossings.

 

    • Missing table row (first row only provided)  from Walking & Cycling
Planning (“C” below)

This is extract from the consultation summary related to any walking and
cycling teams at the time of consultation. The table shows that the
Walking and Cycling planning team was sent a consultation request, but no
response was received within the required timeframe. Thus, the “feedback”
and “engineers response” sections are left blank.

 

In regards to “...We do not have plans for cycleways in this area in the
near future.”, this was from Walking and Cycling in 2018.  The 2019
internal consultation was run again in May, post-project enable, however I
went seeking information from the active modes SME in the planning team.
The response given indicated that this intersection on a proposed cycle
network (ACN), however this is not officially published on AT’s website.

 

Kind regards

Cameron Kirchoff | LGOIMA – Business Partner
Auckland Transport

Private Bag 92250, Auckland 1142

P 09 355 3553 | E [1][email address] or
[2][email address]

[3]www.at.govt.nz
[4]cid:image003.jpg@01D52062.0ED40F00

[5]cid:image002.jpg@01D2927A.134A0850[6]cid:image003.jpg@01D2927A.134A0850 [7]cid:image004.jpg@01D2927A.134A0850 [8]cid:image005.jpg@01D2927A.134A0850[9]cid:image006.jpg@01D2927A.134A0850

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Link to this

From: David Harton

Dear AT Official Information (AT),

Thanks for the response, and the report, which is very enlightening.

As far as the decision not to include cycling in the design, I believe there must have been previous correspondence on this subject, eg emails, minutes of meeting... This is what I wanted.

I still believe that it is irresponsible for AT not including cycling requirements in the design. There have been around 4 serious accidents per year, or 1 serious cycling incident, so that each years delay in re-upgrading the roundabout is one more serious cycling accident.

However, I will mark the request as complete, as I do not believe much can be accomplished by delaying things any more. I will copy this to the Ombudsman for his information.

Yours sincerely,

David Harton

Link to this

Things to do with this request

Anyone:
Auckland Transport only: