Improving intersection safety on East Coast Road, Stillwater

Everyone deserves to be safe on Auckland roads. To help make two intersections on East Coast Road, at Spur Road and Wilks Road / Jackson Way, safer and easier to use we are proposing installing intersection speed zones.

East Coast Road is a busy route and about 9,000 vehicles a day use this section near Silverdale. Spur Road, Wilks Road and Jackson Way add a further 5,660 vehicles a day in local traffic. Spur Road is the only access to Stillwater and Wilks Road is a main route to North Shore Airport.

These locations were chosen because they both have a history of crashes and they are close together, so we plan to improve safety for them both at the same time. Over the past five years, the Spur Road intersection has had four reported crashes, including one fatal, and the Wilks Road / Jackson Way intersection has had six, including one fatal and one serious-injury crash.

See the location map below.

What we are doing

We are proposing implementing intersection speed zones at these intersections. This means variable speed limit signs would be installed on East Coast Road, approximately 175 meters either side of each intersection. When there is a vehicle waiting to turn in or out of Spur Road or Wilks Road or Jackson Way, the variable signs for that intersection will display a temporary lower speed limit. A lower speed through the intersection makes it safer for everyone. The lower speed only applies when the signs are activated by a vehicle waiting to turn.

How it works

Intersection speed zones use sensors and electronic signs to automatically detect vehicles waiting turn into or out of side roads. When the sensors at an intersection detect a vehicle waiting to turn, the variable speed limit signs on East Coast Road for that intersection will turn on and display 60km/h. This will alert drivers they need to slow down because there are vehicles waiting to turn into or out of Spur Road or Wilks Road or Jackson Way.

For these two nearby intersections the variable speed signs turn on only at the intersection where the vehicle is waiting to make a turn.

The diagrams below shows where the signs will be installed, and the detection and speed-limit zones:

Location 1: East Coast Road / Spur Road

To help make it easier for drivers to see they need to “Give Way” when turning out of Spur Road, new signs and road markings to better define the intersection were installed here recently.

Download the map here.

Why we are doing this

Intersection speed zones are a targeted safety improvement proven to reduce serious crashes. They have been identified as an effective solution for these locations. They can be installed faster and at a much lower cost than major changes like traffic lights or roundabouts, while still delivering strong safety benefits with minimal construction disruption. This allows safety improvements to be rolled out at more locations across the network.

The government's Land Transport Rule - Setting of Speed Limit Rule 2024 requires us to complete a cost benefit disclosure statement for the proposed speed limit changes. Read more here and here.

Have your say

Community engagement is open for six weeks from 12 June to 24 July. You can share your thoughts by:

• Completing the survey
• Emailing us at ATEngagement@at.govt.nz

What happens next?

We will consider all community feedback and present a recommendation to Hibiscus and Bays Local Board. The Local Board will provide feedback prior to a final decision being made.

Enter your email into the Follow Project box, to be notified via email when the consultation report is available. All those who complete the survey will be notified.

Use of AI tools

We may use AI tools to help us review feedback from this consultation. This can help us spot common themes and summarise what people tell us more quickly. We will use AI in line with our privacy and data protection standards, and our team will still review all feedback to make sure reporting is fair and accurate.